Battle Royale: 'I Promise'
by furore28
Summary: Battle Royale: A brutal contest where normal school kids must fight each other to the death. Can William Owen of class 12A survive with his friends? Or will they meet their end at the hands of the "Danger Men"? One of whom calls himself Shuya Nanahara...


**Battle Royale**

**SURVIVAL PROGRAM**

'**I Promise'**

_At the beginning of the new millennium, another nation collapsed__._

_With 14% unemployment, millions were out of work._

_Violence among the youth intensified, over one million students boycotted school._

_The US government, fearing the youth, took inspiration from the Japanese government and passed:_

'_The Millennium Reform Amendment'_

_A.K.A. The BR Act_

* * *

1. William Owen

'Hey Byron, over here!'

'How much money did y'bring?'

'I hate havin' t'wake up early,'

'Get me a Pepsi before we go,'

The 12th grade students of George L. Mathers High School in Hartford, Connecticut, clustered around the hired bus which would take them on their field trip. The school had decided to send them to an amusement park to celebrate their first weeks in 12th grade. The trip was paid for by the school, so _everyone_ in class 12A had turned up, a rarity during these hard times.

12A never had a full class in attendance. They were not a troubled school, but three or four students seldom turned up. Class 12A however, were not the best in the country either. Last year, the students organised several boycotts of classes. There was a time when none of them turned up for school on Fridays. The "good" students were usually forced into the boycott by their peers. The worst incident which occurred in 12A was in 9th grade, when one of their students, Andrew Marvell, pushed their homeroom teacher, Theodore Conrad, down a flight of stairs. Marvell was only suspended due to lack of evidence, and Mr. Conrad left the school.

The atmosphere now was different. Everyone was jovial and looking forward to having a day of fun and freedom.

Except for William Owen.

William Owen had a grim childhood. His father left his family when he was three. He was raised by his mother in the shabbiest of circumstances. On top of that, his life was turned on its head when he found his mother dead in their home. She had died from an accidental drugs overdose. He was only 13.

As he watched everyone get on the bus, he felt apprehensive about the coming trip. This excursion was announced to them only two days ago during class. While everyone else babbled hysterically to their neighbour, he noticed how unusually upbeat the principal was when he made the announcement. He was also curious as to why the trip was organised so suddenly. They weren't told what to bring. He wondered if there was some hidden agenda behind all this…

'Will! You're sitting next to me right?'

Will was snapped out of his thoughts.

'Uh, yeah, sure,' he replied.

'C'mon, we're going!'

The boy who asked was Andrew Marvell. Andrew was an orphan as well. At the age of eight, his parents told him to leave the house for being a cretin, a 'waste of a life'. After his father lost his job, he felt that Andrew was a waste of money. After Will's mom died, they lived in the same foster home, and had become the best of friends. Ever since his incident with Mr. Conrad (he said it was because Conrad called him "useless trash"), he never came to school. It was only through Will's constant begging that he finally accepted his invitation to join them on the field trip. Today he put gel in his messy, brown mop of hair; he looked like a porcupine.

The bus gave a deep hiss, the engines rumbled. Their trip had begun.

* * *

2. M81 Woodland

Will sipped his complementary Sprite in a complimentary way. The stewardess co-ordinating the trip had passed them out with the same, cheesy smile all stewardesses seemed to have stapled on their face. Will looked out the window. The bus seemed to be heading towards the coastline. He was sure there were no amusement parks on the coast. Were they going to the beach? If they were, he couldn't go into the water. He didn't bring a towel or trunks, sunscreen…

'Hey Will, snap out of it!'

Will turned around to face the front. Sam was facing him, holding a hand of cards.

'Are you going to play or not?'

Sam was also a good friend of Will. He was lanky and wore crooked glasses which he fixed into position every so often. He towered above everyone in 12A, and when he leaned over his seat his face was only inches from Will's. His father was in the army, and Sam had a great knowledge of warfare and politics. Everyone predicted that he would become president one day.

'I've got a pair of nines, you?' Sam asked.

Will turned his hand to reveal his cards.

'A full house!?' groaned Andrew.

'Crap!' Sam slammed his cards onto Will's lap. 'I know you're cheating somehow!'

Will laughed haughtily, '20 bucks, pay up.'

'I'm broke, remember?' Sam groaned.

'Better luck next time,' smiled Jean, sitting in the seat across them.

Jean Rhys was the type of girl who loved schoolwork and was bullied for it. She was, arguably, the kindest girl in 12A. She had bright, brown eyes and tied her curly black hair into a ponytail.

Will noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a truck painted in camouflage colouring. It was only in view for mere seconds, but Will could swear he saw soldiers watching the bus with transfixed eyes. Was he seeing things?

'Did ya see dat?' Byron Kendall was pointing at the window, sitting near the back of the bus. 'Dey wuz from d'army, jus' ous-side.'

Will looked at he back window. Sure enough, there was another party of soldiers. Only this time they were getting into a van also painted in camouflage.

Sam had seen it too. 'Their uniforms look like they're designed with the "M81 Woodland" pattern,' he said, 'that's odd though, 'cos that's used for battles in forests. They replaced those with the "Universal Camouflage Pattern" for combat in deserts and urban areas, like Iraq.'

'You're such a _war_ nerd!' mocked Andrew.

Sam smacked him over the head, 'Maybe if you actually _came_ to school you'd learn something,'

The two of them continued their debate but Will's attention turned to their homeroom teacher, Mr. Faraday, sitting at the front. He too was looking towards the back at the camouflage men. He had a sullen look on his face…

'Can I have your Sprite, Will, if you're not gonna drink it?' asked Andrew.

'Yeah, go ahead,' he answered.

He passed the drink to him, but his mind was already lost in deep, anxious thought.

Will woke up after his head whacked against the window. He uttered a curse word and his hand scanned the top of his head for a bump. The bus seemed to be driving through a tunnel and an eerie mixture of orange and red light illuminated the inside. The driver hadn't turned on the lights inside the bus. Will turned to Andrew, he had fallen asleep too. His body was sprawled across his arm rest, almost spilling into the aisle. Will looked across; Jean was asleep too, her head was drooped forward. Her neighbour, Sandy, had her head lying across Jean's lap. She was asleep also.

Will turned back, _everyone_ was asleep. Mr. Faraday's head was rocking against the glass but he wasn't waking up. In the middle of the aisle, a can of Sprite was rolling back and forth with every jolt of the bus. Will crawled across Andrew and picked it up. He remembered that _everybody_ was given one._ He_ only took a_ sip_. He heard footsteps to his right. He looked up. The stewardess looked down at him, her face blackened by the uneven darkness. Will could make out a pearly white smile. Then her hand came crashing down onto the back of his neck.

* * *

3. BR

'Will…Will…wake up…Will! WILL!'

Will's eyes flashed open. Andrew's face materialised in front of him. What was he wearing? A necklace? Where were they? Everywhere was dark.

Will suddenly felt a sickly urge to vomit. His stomach lurched, he growled, but luckily he didn't spew. Will remembered the stewardess. She must have knocked him out with that brutal chop. His throat still felt constricted. He felt his neck, it was cold and metallic. It was all around his neck. It was solid.

'You've got one too,' said Andrew glumly, noticing Will's puzzlement.

Will was wearing a metal collar, which seemed to have no means of being disconnected. There was a black rectangle at the front of the collar, similar to those on the tops of TV remotes. As Will looked around, everyone in his class was wearing one. They were just as confused and afraid as he was.

Will surveyed his surroundings. Night had fallen, and moonlight shone through dusty, panelled windows to his right. They were in some sort of disused classroom. There were no desks, only a couple of chairs scattered here and there. At the front of the classroom there stood a lonely rostrum with a dusty blackboard fixed on the wall behind it. Someone had recently renovated this room. The lights on the ceiling looked brand new; though they weren't turned on yet. At the back of the classroom there was a wide set of communicating doors built into the wall.

There were two people at the back of the classroom. The other students of 12A had noticed, and those nearest to these strangers backed away. They were sitting on chairs in the right and left corners of the room.

The person in the left corner wore a fire-red blazer with an empty outline of stitching on his left breast where the crest had been. Underneath he wore a creased, white shirt with the top button undone. His tie hung crooked and loose, striped in white and red. His trousers were red also, but the colour was fading and the bottoms were torn. He wore tattered white sneakers with laces missing. His hair was bleached white and was pointing upwards. His nose was aquiline and he had chiselled cheekbones. He was smoking a cigarette, and when he turned to face the class he would slowly withdraw his face.

The person sitting in the right corner was looking out the window. He was Asian, and wore a yellow bandana across his forehead. His face was round and his hair was unkempt. His eyes curved upwards and had a look of gloom. He wore a buttoned, camouflage jacket (a M81 Woodland, Will noted) with many pockets at the front. He wore baggy, black pants which looked as if it had never been washed. He wore black sneakers which had holes in several places.

Both men were approaching their twenties; both men had a collar around their neck.

The tension in the room was thick. Who were they? What was going on?

Beatrix Everett, who was standing at the window, broke the silence. 'Hey, there's a lotta army trucks outside!' she said.

Everybody crowded around the windows. Sure enough, there were at least 6 of them on the ground below. In the distance there was a military helicopter parked on a giant "H". All of the vehicles had 'BR' painted red on their sides. Whose were they?

Outside the classroom, footsteps could be heard. They were getting louder and closer. The class of 12A turned to the door. A lock was disengaged. A man in camouflage uniform walked in and turned on the lights. The sudden, intense brightness blinded everybody. As they adjusted their eyesight, more men in camouflage had entered; most of them stood by the door. A widescreen television was brought in on a trolley. The camouflage men were carrying M249 Para machine guns used in the US armed forces. A man had taken his place at the rostrum.

It was Mr. Conrad.

A chorus of 'Conrad!?' echoed around the classroom. Will turned to Andrew, who was looking down at the floor, avoiding the eyes of his former teacher.

Conrad was a stout, bald man in his fifties. He wasn't the tallest of men, and would've been a target for bullies when he was little. No one in Will's class liked him or respected him. No one missed him when he left the school. They found him weak, and an easy man to disobey. Now he stood before them, wearing a sharp, black suit with white pinstripes and a silver necktie hung down from his blubbery neck. He looked like a gangster from a mafia movie. Was this a joke?

'Alright everyone, grab a seat and sit down,' said Conrad to everyone's surprise.

A man in camouflage stepped up and screamed: 'SIT DOWN!'

With unease, the class of 12A gradually sat themselves down on the floor.

'Hi, everyone,' Conrad began, 'as you remember, I used to be your 9th grade homeroom teacher. This year, it has been decided that I'm gonna take your class again. Let's have a good time.'

This was met with a hostile and puzzled reaction from the class. Conrad spoke with arrogant self-confidence, almost mockingly at them. This was not at all like the Conrad 12A remembered when he was in school. Who was this man?

'Let me introduce some new students!' Conrad pointed to the left corner, 'That guy in red is called Matthew Donne. He's been held back a few times at his old school so make him feel welcome,' he pointed to the right corner, 'over there is Shuya Nanahara, from Japan. Be nice to them.'

He turned away and wrote "BR Act" on the blackboard with chalk.

Rufus Jarrell, captain of the basketball team, stood up from the back of the classroom.

'Stop foolin' around, where the hell are we!?" he barked.

'Who are these people?' demanded Lisa Trilling, rising for her query.

Conrad turned to the class, pointing to the blackboard. 'Do you guys know this law?'

The class looked quizzically at the board. Will shuddered at his sudden realisation of the two letters. No, it couldn't be…

To Will, the BR could only mean "Battle Royale", an alias given to the new law passed by Congress after a similar law showed immense success in Japan.. It stated that a random class in any US school could be chosen to participate in a bloodthirsty contest. The members of the chosen class were forced to kill each other off until only one survived. This law was created to scare the youth of today in order to try and stop their rising level of violence and disobedience. Will could only remember snippets of information. The first Battle Royale in the US was held four years ago. The winner committed suicide a few weeks after the contest. He said in his suicide note that he couldn't live with himself anymore. It triggered a wave of outcry across the nation.

Will looked at Sam. He had a look of shock on his face. He knew what those letters represented.

Was Will's class _chosen_?

Will looked at Conrad, who donned a sinister expression on his face. Conrad had noticed Andrew. Andrew cringed. Conrad slowly walked towards him. The class backed away from the two adversaries.

'Hey Andrew!' Conrad smiled sarcastically. Andrew stood up and faced him. 'You really did a number on my back that day! I needed to go into surgery! I had to go through painful sessions of rehabilitation but you get off scot-free!' he walked around him in circles. 'God you're pathetic. You slack off, skip school. But you thought you deserved to go on the school trip? Man, you're _trash_.'

Andrew gave him the finger. Conrad swiftly thrust his fist into Andrew's face. Andrew was knocked off his feet. Everybody grimaced. Will went to him to see if he was okay. Andrew's lips were bleeding. Nobody could believe what had just happened.

Conrad went to the front of the class. 'Class, because of trash like Andrew here, this country has become no good. So the guys in Washington decided to pass this law:' he pointed to the blackboard, 'Battle Royale!'

The class now realised what was going on. They didn't want to believe it.

Conrad moved closer to the class. 'So today's assignment is: you kill each other off.'

Students wailed in disbelief. His statement was met with intense furore.

'Until there is only one of you left. Nothing is against the rules.'

Michael Meyer laughed hysterically. 'You're joking right? Is this a hidden-camera show or …'

Conrad turned to him. 'No it's not. You're gonna kill or be killed soon' he said this with utter seriousness. Michael fell silent.

'Where's Mr. Faraday, how could he let you do this?' asked Sarah Didion.

As if it was rehearsed, a medical table was brought into the classroom. There was something on the table. It was covered with a sheet.

Conrad put his hand to the edge of the sheet. 'Faraday actually protested the selection of class 12A for the BR Act…'

He lifted the sheet, the whole class jumped back. There was a bloody corpse on the trolley; Faraday's face gazed in their direction with complete horror.

'Alright class,' said Conrad, pointing to the body, 'this is a no good adult. You guys should work hard to not be like him.' The trolley was withdrawn.

Will felt sick. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Was this really happening?

Conrad leaned on the rostrum as a man in glasses turned on the TV.

'We're going to watch a video now,' he announced, 'don't fall asleep!'

A video was switched on. A title screen appeared. In the centre, a large "BR" dominated the screen. A young and enthusiastic voice of a woman dictated what it said: 'The right and proper way to fight a Battle Royale, presented by the good people of the BR committee!'

The class listened to these words with ominous feeling.

A young, blonde, busty woman in a tank top and shorts appeared on the screen. The clothes had camouflage print on them. She made a salute.

'Students of 12th grade, class A of George L. Mathers High School, how do you do?'

'Very well, thank you!' shouted Conrad.

'This year, your class has been selected to be the participants of this year's Battle Royale! Congratulations!'

'Thank you very much!' hurrahed Conrad.

'The island you are on now,' a 3-D map of a croissant-shaped island appeared on the screen, split into a grid, 'looks like this! It's about 10 kilometres in diameter, and we've asked all of the inhabitants to leave. So there is absolutely no one there…'

Will could hear Jenny Plath, the class president, talking to her neighbour. Conrad had noticed too. The video was stopped.

'Enough of this!' she screamed, 'I'm gettin' out of here!' She stood up and faced the class. 'C'mon, who's with me!? Are you really gonna just sit there and let them do this to us? Are you gonna let this…' she pointed at Conrad, '…this _asshole_ make us kill each other? We have rights! We don't have to take this! We can get outta here _together_!'

Other members of the class began to stand.

'She's right!'

'Let's go guys!'

'We can take 'em down!'

The bulk of the class stood up together in a group. Neither Conrad nor his men made any move to stop them.

'Let's go!'

The class roared and charged towards the exit.

* * *

4. Danger Men

What happened next was utter chaos. Students either tried to force their way out the door or attacked a BR man nearest to them. The BR men were stronger and more trained than expected. As the students pushed and shoved into them, they fired bullets from their guns into the air. As the students hurriedly retreated, the BR men fired bullets into the floor. Everybody made their way to the back of the class. The people who attacked the BR men were thrust away with ease. Will and Andrew had not moved at all, neither had the two new kids. Will knew there was no escape.

As the class huddled together in fear, Conrad waved the BR men to stop.

'Alrighty, back to the video!' he exclaimed, as if nothing happened.

'Now,' continued the woman, 'I'm going to explain the rules to this game!' The students craned their necks forward. They had conceded the fact that there was no use resisting these people. They wanted to live and go home.

'The rules are simple! You will all be put onto this island to fight for survival! The last one remaining will be crowned the winner! '

Conrad stopped the video. 'Any questions so far?'

Katie Pascal raised a tentative hand.

'Yes, Katie?'

'If I survive,' she asked tenuously, 'can I go home?' the whole class looked at Conrad with hopeful eyes.

'Sure thing, but only if everyone else is dead.' Katie sank her head disconsolately.

'Anybody else?' asked Conrad.

Sam Beckett raised his hand.

'Yes Sam?'

'How were we chosen?'

'By an impartial lottery,' it was Conrad's curt and emotionless answer which angered Sam the most.

'Can I ask one more thing?'

'Go on,'

'Why the hell are you doing this? It's inhumane!' Sam's face exuded rage.

'It's your own fault, kiddies.' Conrad sneered with contempt. 'You guys mock us adults. You think you can walk all over us! But before you twerps leave, learn this: Life is a game! Use your wits, survive, and become worthwhile adults!'

Will was disgusted. Conrad was a mad man.

Conrad walked back to his rostrum. 'Back to the video!'

'Your BR director will make announcements at 6 and 12 o'clock!'

Conrad turned to the class, 'That's four times a day!'

'He will broadcast a list of those who have lost and announce the locations of danger zones! Why do you need to know about these danger zones? Well…' the camera zoomed up to her head and shoulders, with the collar on her neck in the centre of the screen. 'Now I would like to turn your attention to this collar that you are all wearing!'

Everyone felt for their collars. With all this chaos, everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it.

'It is made out of metal. It's 100% water and shockproof, and will never come off! A sensor in the collar monitors your pulse. This gives us information on where you are and what you are doing at all times! If you do anything that is sneaky or conspiratorial, _we_ will send a signal to your collar. When that happens, your collar will go…BANG!'

The class shuddered in unison. 'Your collar will explode! If you try and take it off, it will explode as well,' the woman made a satirical, sad face, 'so make sure that doesn't happen to you!'

Andrew had enough. He leapt up in rage. 'Stop this you asshole!' he screamed at Conrad.

'Shut up!' barked Brad Cheever, 'I can't hear what she's saying!'

Andrew lunged at Brad. The two of them rolled around on the floor in front of the class. The man with glasses grabbed Andrew and held him in a head lock. Brad was thrown aside by another BR man. Conrad made a gesture to the man with glasses, who then lifted Andrew's head so that the collar was in full view of him.

'This is what happens when you don't comply…' sneered Conrad.

He took out a remote from his pocket, aimed it at Andrew's collar, and pressed a button.

The collar began to beep. Beep……Beep……

Conrad smiled at the class. 'Better run guys!' he chuckled.

Andrew was let go. 'What's going on!' he cried. 'Help me!'

Beep….Beep…

He made his way towards the class, who were all backing away from him. Andrew began to spin in panic. 'Help me! Get it off!'

Beep..Beep..

When Andrew got hold of someone, he was pushed away. Will made his way towards him, but had no idea what to do.

The beeping became faster. Andrew tugged viciously at his collar. Will watched him helplessly.

Beep,Beep,Beep…

The beeping was now at a continuously high speed. Andrew stopped, looked at Will and stretched a pleading hand towards him.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

'WILL!'

'ANDREW!'

BOOM!

With the sound of the explosion, crimson rain showered the entire classroom. Will watched as Andrew collapsed forward, lifeless.

Will fell on Andrew, 'Andrew….'

The class watched, sorrowfully, grimly. Not a word was said.

Conrad walked towards Will.

'Such a shame,' he said, 'I actually thought of Andrew as my own son.'

Will met him with piercing, tear-filled eyes.

'What's that look for, Will?'

Will would have lunged for Conrad, if it wasn't for Sam and his friends tackling him to the ground. Jean looked into Will's face and imploringly shook her head. Don't do it. Will submitted.

'Now for the rest of the video!' cheered Conrad.

The communicating doors from the back of the room opened. BR men came in, bringing with them carts full of green shoulder bags. They stopped at the front of the classroom, just beside the door.

'I will soon ask you to leave the classroom one by one,' continued the woman, 'but before that I would like to show you this supply-pack you will be receiving!

'Inside are,' she pointed to some loaves of bread and water bottles, 'food and water, a map and compass, a flashlight and a weapon!

'Now the weapons are quite varied. Not just knives and guns either! You might get a dud or strike lucky. We'll be handing these out randomly to eliminate natural advantages.' she took out an axe, 'Woah! This one's a winner!

'One more thing before you go! There is a time limit to a Battle Royale: 3 days! If we haven't found a winner in 3 days, all the collars automatically explode! So do your best when you're out there fighting and make sure that doesn't happen!'

Conrad turned to the class, who were all in a state of dejection, 'We've informed all of your parents about where you are, so don't worry about your loved ones!'

'Now I will call out all of your names in alphabetical order. When I say your name, I want to hear a loud "Here!"'

The whole class looked a t Alejandro, who was always called first on roll calls. He was sweating with wretched anticipation.

'Boys #1 Alejandro Alvarez,'

Alejandro stepped up, 'Here!' he shrieked.

He looked at his classmates, took his schoolbag and stumbled his way to the exit. A BR man threw his supply-pack at him. He made one quick glance at the class and made his way out into the hallway. It was lined with BR men on each side to make sure that the students made there way out without a fuss. Unsure what to do, Alejandro quivered in fear. A BR man turned to him.

'LEAVE!' he screamed.

'Y, yes sir!' he whined, and ran out.

The time was 01:30 A.M. The Battle Royale had begun.

'Girls #1 Patricia Austen,'

'Here!' she cried. She waved a last goodbye to the class, received her 'pack and ran out.

All the while, Will stayed by Andrew's side, frozen in grief.

'Boys #2 Sam Beckett,'

Sam took his schoolbag, passed by Will and said: 'We'll get him, I promise,' took his supply-pack, turned to his classmates, shook the bag above his head in a message of hope, and left.

'Boys #3 Tyson Berryman,'

Tyson, the most athletic student in 12A, ran towards the BR man with the supply bag, caught it with one hand and sprinted out the classroom without a backwards glance.

* * *

'Boys #7 Matthew Donne,'

The class turned around. Donne stamped on his cigarette and sauntered toward the exit. As he passed by he gave a slight glance to the body of Andrew Marvell.

'On the double!' ordered the man in glasses.

Donne went face-to face with him, 'Don't order me around,' he snorted.

The BR man looked at him mockingly, 'What did you say?'

The rest of the class watched in amazement. He was surely going to be shot.

Conrad guffawed and addressed the class, 'you all have probably guessed, but him and,' he pointed to the right corner, 'that guy are particularly dangerous.' The Asian student did not respond. His gaze never left the window.

Will waited ominously for his turn to leave.

* * *

5. Dead Man

'Girls #15 Jenny Plath,' Jenny, who was the chief instigator in the class charge, gave Conrad a cold look as she left. Conrad sniggered.

'Boys #15 Shuya Nanahara,'

Shuya turned for the first time towards the front of the class. The class watched the "danger man" as he walked nonchalantly out the door without a word.

'Boys #16 Jason Orwell,'

Jason, a friendly introvert with short blonde hair, patted Will on the back as he left.

'Boys # 17 William Owen,'

'WILLIAM OWEN!' barked a BR man.

Will took one last, long look at Andrew, picked up his schoolbag and whispered to Jean: 'I'll wait for you outside.' Jean nodded.

Will walked between the long lines of BR soldiers to the back exit, trying to keep a brave face. When he was finally outside, he suddenly feared the dark, empty expanse which waited for him. As soon as he was out of sight of the BR men, he made his way to the side of the building and hid among some bushes. He opened his supply-pack and felt around for his flashlight.

As he rummaged through his 'pack, he could hear the other students come out of the building. He didn't dare make a sound. He needed to stop Jean when she came out, but was now too afraid to do so. This was the first time where he felt truly afraid for his life

He was startled by a sudden rustling behind him. Will turned on his flashlight, and a figure emerged from the darkness. It was Mary Pollack.

'Will…' she whimpered.

'What's wrong, Mary?' he asked, cautiously.

Mary, who was usually a bright, bubbly girl, looked traumatised. Her hair was dishevelled and there was a blank stare in her eyes. As she came closer, Will could see something red trickling down the back of her leg.

'Will, run…' she collapsed in front of him. Will went to her side. He looked at her back and grimaced. A sickly, horrendous red fissure travelled from the beck of her neck to the top of her pelvis. Will let her down gently, aghast at what she had suffered.

Just as Will wondered who the culprit was, a figure came racing towards him. He was holding something over his head. Will quickly pointed the flashlight at him. It was Alejandro Alvarez. He was holding a Japanese _katana _sword over his head. The sword was dripping with blood.

Alejandro let out a harsh war-cry; a look of pure aggression on his face. Will crouched swiftly, dodging Alejandro's sword by millimetres. Will clumsily dodged Alejandro's second swipe and fell. Alejandro quickly turned, saw his chance and tried to drive his sword into Will like a skewer. Will rolled to his left and Alejandro screamed.

Will watched as Alejandro collapsed, clutching his side with his hand. He dropped his katana which rolled towards Will's feet. Will grabbed it and aimed it at Alejandro's assailant. It was Jenny Plath, holding a knife in her trembling hands.

'Jenny?' said Will in disbelief.

Jean arrived at the scene and clutched her mouth when she saw Alejandro.

Jenny grabbed her and pushed her towards Will.

'You two run,' Jenny commanded, 'I'll catch up…'

Alejandro rose and tackled her to the ground. Will was holding his sword. Should he help Jenny out? Kill another human being? A classmate? He couldn't do it.

Jenny kneed Alejandro off her and sprang up. Will called her name and passed the sword to her. She nodded in gratitude.

'Go!' she barked.

Jean and Will ran for their life, leaving the frenzied commotion behind them.

* * *

The island that class 12A found themselves in was encased in high, sharp cliffs on the circumference. There was no worry of escape. Every boat and ship-building material had been removed from the island, and anyone who decided to swim would fall to their deaths from the high cliffs into the deep, rocky waters below. Anyone who managed to find a means of escape would consequently have their necklace exploded. Security was full-proof.

On the south side of the island, two students from class 12A walked along the edges of these enormous cliffs.

'Thanks for coming with me,' said Leslie Murray.

'No problem Leslie, you know I'll always be with you,' answered her boyfriend, Thomas D. Quincy, with hidden fear.

They walked hand-in-hand together, slowly, across the unstable, stone surface. In the distance, they could hear echoes of gunshots. Some were close by.

Thomas broke-down. 'Is anyone going to save us?' he whimpered.

'I don't think so,' answered Leslie grimly, 'we can't get a signal on our phones and there's no sight of other land close by from here.'

'Oh God, please help us!' screamed Thomas on his knees.

'Suicide may be the only way off this island,' she said despondently.

She turned to face the open sea. She took her supply-pack and held it over her head.

'I'll never play this game!' she threw it into the waters below.

Thomas stood beside her, watching her bag being thrust against the cliff-walls by the waves.

'Are you sure this is the only way?' he asked, reluctantly.

She held his arm tight. 'Let's go.'

The two lovers leapt with all their might. Even as they plunged into the deep abyss below, they never once let go of one another.

* * *

'Dere he iz, let's get'im!'

'Get yo weapunz ready,'

A group consisting of Tyson Berryman, Byron Kendall, Maiesha Whitman, Rufus Jarrell and Nick Mailer watched Mathew Donne from a safe distance. Byron had spotted Donne's conspicuous white hair in the darkness, and the orange light from his cigarette also gave him away. Maiesha told them that he was described as a "danger man" by Conrad, so they decided to take him down first.

The group positioned themselves stealthily around the perimeter of Donne, who didn't seem to notice them. He was sitting alone on a tree stump and seemed totally occupied by his cigarette. Tyson gave a signal and the group presented themselves around Donne, weapons in hand. They had all the angles covered so that Donne couldn't escape. Tyson had a handgun, Maiesha had grenades, Rufus had a crossbow and Byron had a M2 Carbine assault rifle capable of fully-automatic fire. Donne wasn't surprised at all at their intrusion and watched them with complete indifference. He took one long look at Tyson and grinned.

Tyson, puzzled by Donne's reaction, spoke first.

'What's so funny?' he asked, 'If you move we shoot.'

Tyson gestured towards Nick. Nick nodded and slowly made his way towards Donne. Donne remained stationary. He didn't even turn to see Nick's approach, but kept his back to him.

Nick snatched Donne's pack and checked its contents. Nick reached deep inside and took out Donne's weapon. It was a spoon.

'What's this?' Nick asked Donne mockingly, tapping the spoon on Donne's head. 'You got a good one, didn't ya?'

Donne gave a smirk.

'You're workin' for Conrad arent'ya?' asked Tyson, aiming his crossbow. 'Sent here to kill all of us or somethin'? _We'd_ never kill anyone, right guys?'

The group gave a call of agreement.

Donne gave another toothy grin.

Byron, irritated by Donne's impudence, came face to face with him and put his rifle to his head. 'Y'liznin' white boy?'

Without warning, Donne spat his cigarette into Byron's face. As Byron recoiled Donne grabbed the rifle with one hand and used his foot to sweep Byron's legs from underneath him. The group were caught off guard. What happened next only lasted seconds.

With the rifle in his possession, Donne made quick work of the defenceless Nick Mailer; the spoon was still in his hand when he fell. One down.

Rufus fired arrows impetuously, but Donne was already moving. Using the stump as a spring board, Donne leapt and shot Rufus in mid-air. Two down.

Maiesha stood motionless, both by awe and absolute fear. Donne's absolute ease at disposing her friends frightened her. Donne, springing up flexibly after his landing, immediately aimed for her and fired. Three down.

Donne turned around to hit Tyson, but he was gone. Before Donne could attempt a search for him, Tyson emerged from the darkness with incredible swiftness and placed his gun at the back of Donne's head.

Tears streamed down Tyson's face 'You killed my friends you…!'

Tyson squeezed the trigger hard.

Nothing happened.

Tyson, confused and over-whelmed by emotion, was puzzled. He continued to pull the trigger but to no effect.

Donne turned his head eerily around and gave a sadistic grin, 'Safety's on,' he rasped.

Tyson, wide-eyed, checked his weapon and his heart sank. Donne was right. How could he have been so stupid?

Tyson noticed that Donne was watching him. He sniggered with sick, sadistic pleasure. He was licking his lips with his snake-like tongue and his eyes exuded a lust for slaughter.

Tyson flicked the safety off. Before he could raise his gun Donne drove his shoulder into Tyson's body and sniggered as he pulled the trigger.

With the loud crackle from Donne's gun, Byron knew Tyson was finished. Byron lay petrified on the ground, a bullet-hole burn on his forehead. His brain was telling him to run but his legs wouldn't obey him.

Donne placed the rifle to his sweaty forehead.

'You listenin' _dead_ man?' he growled.

* * *

'In here!'

Will took one quick look back and then dived into a wall of tall, thick bushes. He pulled Jean inside.

'Did anyone see us?' he panted.

'No, I don't think so,' Jean answered with quick breaths, 'I hope Jenny made it out alive…'

'She said she'd catch up, if she doesn't, then we know that...' Will's words drifted away.

Will opened his 'pack to see what weapon was inside. He felt a handle, it was quite heavy. He lifted it out optimistically out of the 'pack. It was a magnifying glass.

'What the, he stuttered, 'what do they want me to do? Kill _ants_ with it?'

Jean took her weapon out. She showed it to Will.

'Mine's…a kettle,'

'What are they taking us for? Those…those…'

Will's words drifted away. He turned away from Jean. All he could think of was what had happened to Andrew just moments ago.

'What's wrong Will' asked Jean, kindly.

Will placed his hand over his eyes. 'I invited Andrew to come along. I begged him to come. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have…he would still be…'

Jean placed her hand on his shoulder. 'He was happy Will;' she said, 'you saw his face on the bus. He was glad that he came with us. He missed everyone.'

'Will turned to Jean with immense gratitude. If he was going to survive this contest and stay focused, he knew Jean would keep him on the right path. He wanted her to leave this island alive, even if he himself was going to die, he would make sure she would escape unharmed.

Will swallowed his tears. 'I'll take revenge for him. He won't die for nothing.'

He grabbed Jean's hand with his. 'I'll protect you Jean. You're the nicest girl I've ever met. No one's going to lay a finger on you. Nothing will _ever_ happen to you. I'll always be there for you.'

Jean, who was stunned at the honesty of what Will was saying, saw the fiery passion burning intensely in his deep, piercing eyes. She slowly nodded her head.

'Thank you, Will,' she said, 'but I'm going to do the same for you. You're not going to die while I'm around.'

Will sprang up by a sudden rustling behind him. His weapon in hand, he stood with wretched anticipation to see who it was. A figure approached.

'Jenny!' Will gasped.

Jean gave a sigh of relief, 'Thank God you're safe!'

Jenny, holding the katana in one hand, lit up her yes at the sight of them. 'Don't thank God, thank me!' she laughed weakily.

Her clothes were muddy and had several red stains speckled across the fabric. Her face was drenched in sweat and her usually sleek, brown hair was dishevelled. Her lip was bleeding.

Jean inspected her, 'No major cuts, just one on your lip, you're gonna be okay, here, use my tissue.'

Will gulped, 'Is Al…'

Jenny put her hand on Will's shoulder, 'let's not worry about that right now. This would all be for nothing if we get killed while our guard's down,'

Will's heart sank but he put on a brave face. 'You're right, we'd better rest now. I'll keep watch, don't worry.'

Jenny looked at Will's weapon, 'Then you'd better use this,'

She handed the katana to him. 'I think mine can kill bigger bugs.' she smiled.

Jean took Jenny's hand and looked at her straight in the eye, 'Jenny,' she began, 'we promise you that we'll look after you and make sure you _never_ have to do anything like that again. We're never going to leave you behind like that _ever_.'

Will nodded at Jenny in agreement. 'We're gonna stick together from now on,'

With that, the three students from 12A got some much needed rest. Tomorrow was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

6. Sandwiched

At 06:00 exactly, the many speaker towers built all over the island sprang into life. After a few screeches of static, the music played.

The speakers exploded into the commanding, high-tempo bounce of 'Radetzky's March'. Will and Jean, and probably all of class 12A, sprang awake from their hiding place. They moved into the clearing to try and work out where the sound was coming from.

The volume was turned down, and a truly unmistakeable voice barked out across the island.

'Gooood…Mooorrrning 12A!!!' wailed Conrad, 'How's everyone holding up? It's time for you sleepyheads to wake up and get ready! Don't skip your breakfast now; you'll need all the energy you need for the long day of killing ahead!'

The announcement was being made from the building class 12A had left at the start of the game. Before the BR committee bought the island, the building used to be the school for the local inhabitants. Nowadays it is patrolled by 150 BR soldiers, all heavily armed. If you had the courage to walk up to this building, you would see a BR soldier at every window, at least 75 of them patrolling the ground outside. All of them were trained to defend their base from most terrorist attacks. This was to ensure no class tried a rebellion. Getting close to this building would mean a death sentence.

Conrad was in a second-floor classroom. Inside there was an old couch where he ate and slept, and on the other side of the room there was all the electrical equipment needed for monitoring the class of 12A. From here they knew exactly where everyone was, could set up danger zones and send a signal to any collar they wanted on the island.

'Now I will read out the list of those who have fallen since you guys left!' Will and Jean hoped that none of their closest friends had perished since last night.

'In order:

Girls #16 Mary Pollack,

Boys #5 Thomas D. Quincy,

Girls #11 Leslie Murray,

Boys #1 Alejandro Alvarez (Will turned solemnly to the still sleeping Jenny),

Boys #12 Nick Mailer,

Boys #10 Rufus Jarrell,

Boys #11 Byron Kendall,

and Girls #21 Maiesha Whitman'

Will couldn't believe it. Eight of his classmates were dead in the space of 5 hours.

'That's an impressive number for your first time, class!' said Conrad enthusiastically,

'That means there's 33 of you left!'

Will wondered how many would be eliminated by midday.

'Now I'm going to tell you the locations of your very first danger zones! Everybody take out your maps and grab a pen. Ready?'

Will and Jean pulled their maps out of their plastic case, which could be hung from the neck by a strap.

'At 07:00, there's one in E-5, E-5. At 09:00: D-6, D-6. At 11:00: G-3!'

Will noticed that the first two were at the perimeter of the BR building.

'Class, it may be tough that your friends are dying, but sacrifices have to be made! See you all at 12!'

The speakers fell silent. The sound of nature took over. Birds were cawing, trees rocked in the breeze, and the waves hissed against the cliffs in the distance.

Will thought about Alejandro and Jenny. He couldn't believe that she had the guts to kill a classmate. He couldn't imagine how tough it was for her to do it. If the time came, would he have to kill Jenny or Jean? Would one of them kill him…?

'Will,' Will turned to Jean, who was looking as miserable as he was, 'this area we're in now's going to become a danger zone.'

'R-right,' Will stuttered, 'let's go east. Keep your eyes peeled. Tell me if you spot something.'

Will tapped Jenny on the shoulder, 'We're goin' now. Jean's marked off the danger zones for you so don't worry about a thing.'

Jenny rubbed her eyes, 'Who died…?' she asked grimy.

Will took a deep sigh, 'Too many,' he answered.

* * *

'Keep quiet, we're almost there!'

'Are you sure?'

'Just stick to the plan, or I'll kill you!'

Sandy Petoffi and Christy Lowell tiptoed there way through high hills parallel to the island's river. They were making their way to Sylvia Hayter's hideout. They were going to kill her.

Christy was one of the meanest girls in class 12A. She and her gang would bully the weaker girls, skip school and go to drugs parties. Christy was seen as no.2 to the leader of their group, Anna Radcliffe, and they would always sit together and skip school together.

Sandy was not friends with any of them. In fact, she was bullied by them at school. When she left the BR building and became lost in the darkness, Christy put a gun to her head and told her to join her or else die. Sandy didn't understand why Christy didn't kill her. Was Christy actually_ good_ inside? Was she not cold-hearted enough to kill her? Or did she need company because she was afraid of being alone?

The mismatched duo was going to kill Sylvia Hayter, a petit, lonely girl who was into Mozart and art. Sylvia was the main target for bullies and because of that the other students of 12A avoided getting too close to her. She wasn't part of any sports teams and would spend her lunch break in the music room playing her piano. She wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and dark, beaded earrings. She had black frizzy hair and had high cheekbones. She would usually wear black cardigans, black skirts and black tights.

Christy wanted to kill her because she thought she would be an easy kill.

The pair of them reached a dilapidated house in a small clearing. It was built into a wedge in the hill and looked as if it was going to be crushed.

'Come here,' she whispered, pulling Sandy's arm.

Christy, with a handgun in her left hand, took up a position behind a rusted tin barrel lying 20 yards from the front door. They stayed there completely silent behind the barrel for some time until a sudden noise came from inside the house. It was the distinctive sound of a can falling to the floor. Christy raised a finger at Sandy.

'You know your instructions. Do them or we're both dead.' She ordered.

Sandy answered in a whimper. Christy's 'plan' was for Sandy to enter the house first, draw Sylvia out, then leave it for Christy to take care of the dirty business. Sandy knew she was going to get hurt.

'Go!'

Sandy slowly trudged over to the house and opened the door tentatively. The door creaked open conspicuously. Sandy looked around. It was a one-room house with a table in the centre with one chair. Outside there was a water pump. The wood was rotting and the place stunk of damp. There was no sign of Sylvia.

As she walked in she felt something on the end of her foot. She screamed and kicked it away. It was the can that fell earlier. Christy burst in through the door.

'DIE BITCH!' she yelled.

Christy was so eager to kill Sylvia, that she didn't realise her mistake until Sandy fell to the floor. When Christy took a moment to figure out what she had done, something moved rapidly from behind the front door. Before Christy could turn her body around, she was tackled to the ground, and a struggle ensued. Each girl punched, clawed and scratched for control of the gun. The gun was torn from Christy's fingers. Then it was at her neck.

'Better luck next time,' smiled Sylvia.

* * *

The island looked so remote, Will wondered how the former inhabitants had managed to live here. He looked at his map, and saw that the residential areas were near the school. Other than that, the island seemed to be untouched by man. When they walked they walked on grass, rock or muddy soil. There were many undulations in the ground which made it difficult to walk across. In forest areas, there were many exotic looking plants and fruits decorating the woodlands, dappled with sunlight through chinks in the canopy.

The air was heavily humid, and the sweat was dripping down Will's forehead. His shirt was damp and he was getting bit by hungry mosquitoes. Jean was beginning to suffer from heat exhaustion. Jenny followed them from the back, her katana gripped tightly in her sticky hands. They walked drearily, almost blindly through a thin man-made path through the forests in the eastern hills. To their right was a steep, rocky slope going down. They needed to be careful but the trio seemed dazed. They were walking for 2 hours now, and none of them knew what to do next.

Out of nowhere, like a mirage, Tiana Milton came out of the greenery. Will focused his eyes on her. She was wearing a sweaty, tight white tank top and tight blue jeans. Her right arm was raised high above her head. She was coming towards him.

She was holding a knife.

Will suddenly realised what she was trying to do. He reached into his pocket and threw his magnifying glass at her. It hit her square in the face and she cursed. Will took the opportunity and jumped on her, taking her knife arm with his left hand. Together, they rolled down the slope, hitting rocks and fallen branches on their way down. Jean screamed something, but Will couldn't hear her. Will and Tiana landed onto a clearing on the bottom of the slope. Will let go of her, she let go of him. She crawled away from him, holding her left breast. Will looked at his hands. They were red. He stood up and looked at Tiana. A knife protruded from her breast. Tiana looked grievingly at Will.

'Tiana are you…are you…?' Will was stunned.

'I…I'm…,' Tiana was coughing horribly, 'I'm sorry…'

She tilted her head back. She didn't move. Will gazed at her lifeless body with complete hysteria. He was traumatised.

Jean came down the slope.

'Will! Are you al…?' she noticed the body.

'Did I do it?' Will asked, grabbing her shoulders maniacally. 'Did I do that!? Did I kill somebody!?'

Jean violently shook her head. 'No Will! It was an accident!'

Jenny came running down the slope, 'Look out!' she yelled.

The two of them were startled by a gun shot which was fired a few yards in front of them. Will looked to the source of the sound. It was Richard Stone. He was holding a handgun which was pointing to the sky.

He slowly lowered his gun so that it aimed at Jenny. 'Put down the sword Jenny,' he snarled, 'throw it away.'

Jenny looked at Will and Jean for their opinion.

'Quit stallin' or I'll shoot'ya!' Richard barked.

Jenny had no choice. She threw the katana into the bushes to her right.

'Good girl,' he smiled, 'now take a few steps to your right and don't move.'

Jenny did what she was told.

'Joey!' Richard called, 'Come down here! Tiana's dead!'

Richard kept his gun poised at Jenny as they waited for Joey DeLilo's arrival. He came running down the slope and crouched at Tiana's body, inspecting her wound. Will noticed Joey's weapon and was terrified. In his hands was a Mossberg 500 shotgun. If he shot them at close range they would be blown apart.

Joey stood up and looked at Will and Jean with brutal eyes. He fired from his shotgun and the ground next to Will's feet burst into a dust of soil. Jean squealed and grabbed Will's arm. Joey cocked his shotgun and positioned himself so that Jenny was on his left side and Will and Jean were on his right. .

'Which one of them did it, Ritchie!?' he asked.

'It was Will!' he answered, 'I saw it with my own eyes.'

Joey marched towards Will and pushed the nose of his shotgun into his face. 'Did you kill my Tiana!?' he screamed.

'No! I…I …didn't mean to…' cried Will, 'It was an…'

Will's whimpering was interrupted by a groan from Jenny. Joey whirled around and watched her collapse onto the ground in front of him. Will could see that her head was bleeding. She seemed to have been knocked out.

Jean put her hand to her mouth, 'Jenny…!' She took a few steps forward towards her.

'Don't move Jeanie!' ordered Richard, 'I'll shoot'ya!' Will had to desperately hold Jean back.

Ed Walcott was standing over Jenny's unconscious body. His fist was raised, adorned with brass knuckles.

'She tried t'get'ya from behind,' he explained, 'but I did it to her first.'

Will and Jean huddled close together. They were sandwiched by two gunmen and a third was in reserve. They had no weapons to beat all three of them. Jenny was hurt. There was no escape.

'You bastards!' roared Joey, 'YOU'LL ALL PAY!'

Will covered Jean with his body. The shotgun roared. Jean screamed. Joey screamed.

Will looked back. Joey's back was bent wickedly. He had dropped his shotgun and was spewing blood from his mouth. Someone was piercing him with a sharpened branch from behind. Richard couldn't shoot as the assassin was using Joey's body as a shield. Ed charged at him, his fist raised high above his head. The assassin held Joey's body by the neck with his left hand and then pulled the spear out with his right. Joey's body went limp instantly. In one quick motion the spear was thrown like a javelin into the onrushing Ed. As Ed fell, the assassin hooked his leg underneath the shotgun and flipped it into the air. Richard held his gun steady, ready to shoot when Joey's body was dropped. The shotgun was cocked with one hand and Joey's neck was let go. The scene was straight out of a western shoot-out. A shot was fired before Joey's body landed on the ground. Richard was too slow on the draw. The force of the bullet threw him off his feet and he slammed into a tree behind him. Richard, with a blank stare, slowly slid down the bark.

Will and Jean fell silent. They watched all of this wide-eyed, frozen in awe. The assassin walked past the bodies with an even gait. He picked up Richard's gun and aimed it at the couple.

'Come with me if you want to live.' said Shuya.

* * *

7. Love

'It's 12pm!' announced Conrad, 'Everybody sit down, and take a lunch break from the killing! Here is the list of people who have fallen since this morning:

'Girls #14 Sandy Petoffi,

Girls #10 Christy Lowell,

Girls #2 Danii Coleridge,

Girls #12 Tiana Milton,

Boys #6 Joey DeLilo,

Boys #20 Ed Walcott

Boys #19 Richard Stone.

'That's it! 26 students left!

'Class, you're keeping up a good, even pace. I'm very proud of you! Now, for the danger zones…'

* * *

'Can you believe that? Danii got killed by that guy in red!'

'You sure it was him?'

'I saw him do it! He's a psycho!'

Charlie Porter and Sam Beckett ate their lunch of water and bread on a dusty, old couch in an abandoned café. It was quite small and most of the furniture was gone. The walls were painted yellow but the colour was faded and the paint was peeling off. There was a dusty couch in the centre of the café with a cracked glass table in the centre. There were no coffee-makers or refrigerators anywhere. The only bit of technology left was a dusty CD player on the counter. Sam was the first to take refuge there. Roxanne Rousseau arrived in the middle of the night and now Charlie had come in to join them.

Charlie narrowly escaped from Donne that morning. He heard Danii cry for help but when he reached her Donne was standing over her, rummaging through her 'pack. Luckily Donne didn't see him and Charlie ran for his life.

'Guys!' Roxanne called from the entrance, 'Someone's coming!'

Sam grabbed his handgun. 'Who is it?'

'I think it's… Jason!'

Charlie made a sour face, 'Jason…' he groaned.

Jason Orwell was invited into the café. His shirt was drenched; it seemed like he had been running all day.

'How'd you find us?' asked Sam, offering a towel.

Jason received it and took out a brick-shaped machine from his pocket. There was a large screen in the middle with the map of the island on it, divided in grid squares.

'I got a GPS machine. It's only good for this island though. It tells me the position of where everybody is, but it won't show me their identity.'

'Wow,' Sam was impressed, 'you got a great weapon.'

Jason changed his tone of voice, 'Have you guys seen Patty or Sarah?'

Charlie and Roxanne looked at each other first then shook their heads. Sam shrugged.

'That's alright,' sighed Jason, 'well I think I'll go then...' He made his way abruptly to the door.

'You're going already?' asked Charlie.

'Sorry guys,' said Jason regretfully, 'but I've got to see them.'

'Okay then,' conceded Sam, 'if you see Will, tell him where we are.'

'Sure thing,' said Jason as he ran out the door, 'stay alive!'

'What a weirdo,' muttered Charlie, who received a jab in the ribs from Roxanne, 'it's true! He could've stayed here with us! We could've used that GPS thing to avoid the red guy! Are we not good enough for him!?'

'He said he needed to talk to Sarah and Patricia,' Roxanne reminded him, 'whatever it is it's gotta be important to him.'

'_I_ always thought he was in love with _Patty_,' laughed Charlie, receiving another jab.

'Knock it off guys,' laughed Sam.

'Roxy started it!' Charlie whined, 'I'm telling!'

'While you're running back to the teacher,' Sam tossed him his MP3 player, 'see if this can plug in to that CD player over there. We might as well have _good_ music on while we're stuck on this island. Not that orchestra crap Conrad plays.'

Charlie made a salute, 'Aye-aye sir!'

'You'd better get used to sayin' that when I become your commander!'

'If you're the commander, I'll be president!'

The friendly exchange was interrupted by an intense shriek which erupted in the room. Roxanne let out a yell and covered her ears. The screech ended as quickly as it had started.

Sam looked to the source of the noise. Charlie was on the floor with his hand at his ear.

Sam stomped towards him. 'What the hell did you do!?' he barked.

Charlie made an innocent face and pointed at the speakers. 'All I did was turn it on!' he explained, 'Then that noise came out of it. That's all I did, I swear!'

Sam was not convinced. 'Is that _all_ you did?' he asked.

Charlie nodded, 'Yeah, I just flipped a switch.'

Roxanne took cautious little steps towards the CD player. When she got within a close range the speakers let out a soft squeal.

'What the hell…?' she muttered.

Charlie got up. 'Hey, you guys. Isn't that the same sound that comes outta speakers when you get too close to it with a…?'

Sam jumped on him and covered Charlie's mouth with his hand

'Gerroffee…!' mumbled Charlie.

Sam put his index finger to his lips, indicating silence. He raised his eyebrows to see if Charlie understood. Charlie nodded. Sam turned to Roxanne. She nodded.

Sam slowly got off him and took out a sheet of tissue paper and a pen. He began writing furiously onto it in complete silence.

When Sam was done he tore out the piece of paper and showed it to them.

'_There are microphones in our collars_,' it read, '_watch what you say about "them". That's how they know what we're doing. From now on any secret stuff will be discussed in writing."_

'Got it?' Sam asked.

They nodded.

Sam gestured to them to come closer. 'With "that" aside, we've gotta do something to get more protection. We can't defend ourselves with just this,' Sam waved his handgun, 'we need more weapons.'

Charlie took out his lighter. 'You mean _this_ isn't good enough?' he asked sarcastically.

'No Charlie,' grunted Sam, 'and Roxy's binoculars aren't enough either. I checked the map and there are a few places I want to visit. We're gonna go get a few things so listen up…'

* * *

'Keep going, he's coming!'

'I can't, my feet hurt!'

'Hurry, we need to cross the river!'

Dennis and Anita were on the run. They could hear the trees around them splinter. The bullets were whizzing past their ears; they knew they were done for.

Donne had found them a few minutes ago. The couple were lucky to have gotten away from him earlier (Dennis threw his cooking pot in his face), they knew they wouldn't be so lucky soon. The couple were panting, sweating, out of breath. They knew that they were going to have to stop.

Dennis skidded to a halt and he pulled Anita away from the edge. They had reached the river bank, but the riverbank was steeper than expected. The river flowed far below the edge of the bank. The tide was out and it would have been suicide to jump into it with all the rocks down there. The bridge yawned at them to their right, a good distance away from where they were.

'Damn, I thought this was the right way…' panted Dennis.

'It's alright Dennis,' cried Anita, 'you did your best.'

Dennis looked back. There was a loud silence. Donne was hiding somewhere…

'Annie, do you really want to die at the hands of that maniac?' he asked.

'No,' she answered, 'but what choice do we have?'

Dennis turned his head towards the river below. 'There's one way.'

Anita gulped. 'Do you really want to?'

Dennis took her hand and nodded. They both stood side-by-side at the very edge.

'I love you Annie, do you love me?' he asked, grasping her hand.

Anita nodded, 'Of course I do…'

'On the count of three, okay?' sobbed Dennis.

The couple took a few steps back from the edge.

'Okay…' wept Anita.

'One...Two…Three!'

Dennis ran. Dennis leapt. He opened his eyes. He had jumped farther than he thought. For an instant he was flying through the air. It was an amazing feeling, defying gravity. He turned to see his girlfriend, who undoubtedly was enjoying the same emotion.

She wasn't there. When Dennis jumped, he had let go of her hand. As his downward descent began, he whirled around to see the steep riverbank. There she was, waving sarcastically. She smiled scornfully at him, unaware of the man in red creeping slowly up behind her. Dennis didn't see what happened next. He closed his eyes again and let the river take him in with arms outstretched.

* * *

Patricia was also being chased by a madman, but in her case it was a mad_woman_. Patricia fired her gun sporadically in Sylvia's direction, but when Sylvia had caught up with her, she stood frozen in fear. Sylvia's aim was swift and true. Patricia toppled sideways and didn't make another move. She was defeated.

Sylvia licked her lips and imperiously made her way to the body. She crouched down and whispered into Patricia's ear.

'This is for all the times you never spoke to me in class,' she said vehemently, 'I'm in 12A too you know. It wouldn't hurt to say one thing to me in class each day!'

Sylvia wanted revenge. She wanted revenge for all the times the girls of 12A mistreated and alienated her, whoever they were. Patricia was a nice girl, yes, but a real nice girl would at least say good morning to you when you walked into the classroom every day! She had nothing against the boys. They were too stupid, too rude, too immature, too _obsessed_ with sex and violence to care about anything anyway. There would be no point in killing them because they'd never understand her suffering. Boys weren't her target, the girls were. Girls were meant to be the more caring gender. Females were meant to be more in touch with each others feelings. Girls were meant to be friends with each other! Yet to her, they treated her like dust: a nuisance which could be swept away and forgotten about until the next time they noticed it.

This Battle Royale was not hell, it was a blessing. Now she could punish all those girls who never valued her, cared for her or acknowledged her existence. Now she could pass judgement on those who were evil. She was going to win this contest and live a life with people who appreciated her!!

Sylvia took Patricia's spare ammunition and headed off for her next victim. Who would she run into next? Anita? Jenny…?

Patricia was still alive, but only just. She had perhaps only seconds to live. She couldn't believe the ferocity at which Sylvia talked. Was she really that mean to her? She felt horrible. The girls of 12A had created a monster.

Patricia couldn't feel anything anymore; she was beginning to feel cold. She was losing too much blood.

'Jason, help me…' she whispered in hope.

Someone was running towards her. She could hear the footsteps thumping in her ears. Did Sylvia come to finish her off? If so, let it be quick…

'Patty!'

Patricia knew who that was. 'Jason…'

Jason rushed to her side. He inspected her wounds; he knew she was a goner.

'Oh God, who did this?' he asked.

'Sylvia, watch out for her…?'

'Don't worry,' said Jason, checking his weapon, 'she's walking away from here. It's just us.'

Patricia looked curiously at his weapon, 'You came all this way to save me…?'

'Yeah but, I'd never thought this little dot would actually be you…'

Patricia gave a cry of pain, squeezing Jason's hand vigorously. Jason began to cry. He was too late. Patricia let him rest her head in his lap.

'Patty?'

'What is it Jason…?'

'I'm sorry I hurt your feelings that day…'

Patrice giggled faintly, 'I can't help if you love someone else…'

'I know it's too late for me to make it up to you…'

Drops of water began to fall on Patricia's forehead. She looked up at his face. His eyes were tightly shut and his face was moist with trickling tears. She gave one last, heart-warming smile and let Jason hold her for as long as he wanted.

* * *

8. Help

It's now 1800 hours kiddies!' wailed Conrad. 'Here is the list of the goners:

'Boys #21 Dennis Wyatt,

Girls #3 Anita Cowley,

Girls #1 Patricia Austen.

Only 3 people this time. I'm quite disappointed in you, class! I've decided to increase the number of danger zones to get the ball rolling again! There will be one every hour, so listen up…'

* * *

'This is tasty.'

'Didn't know you were such a good cook…'

Will and Jean were eating a salad consisting of green leaves, mushrooms and apples. They tried to spark a conversation with the chef, Shuya

After Shuya had saved them, he brought them over to a cosy, abandoned house and kept them sheltered inside. While Will and Jean pondered over whether they should trust him, he came back into the house, bringing with him cooking ingredients. 'I hope you like vegetarian,' he had said. Will and Jean were stunned by this offering and were lost for words.

Shuya seemed to understand English, but apart from his cooking, Will didn't know a thing about him. Shuya sat near the window in silence with his back to them, his shotgun cradled in his arms. Jenny was lying in a make-shift bed of bags and jackets, still unconscious. Shuya had tended to her wounds and advised them to let her sleep. It was nightfall and the room was illuminated by a gas lamp. Will and Jean ate their meal in silence. After Jean cleared her plate she exclaimed: 'Delicious!'

Shuya took the gambit. 'In Japanese, we say "gochisō-sama" after a meal.' he said indifferently.

'Gotch-so sammy?' said Will.

'Gochisō-sama,' repeated Shuya.

'I'll never get it,' chuckled Will nervously.

There was an awkward silence which lasted too long for Jean.

'Mr. Nanahara, was it?' she asked.

'Call me Shuya,' he said, not turning around.

'Shuya,' she began, 'why are you here?'

That question seemed to sting Shuya.

Jean noticed, 'Oh, I'm sorry if I offended…'

'No you did not,' he said abruptly, 'it is okay.'

Shuya placed the shotgun on the floor and reached into one of the pockets on his jacket. He produced a Polaroid photo and presented it over his head. Jean took it and Will looked in.

The photo was old and crinkled. The photo also had red smears across it. The photo itself was of a young-looking Shuya, photographed in the centre. He was sitting in a seat of some bus. He was wearing a beige school blazer and a black tie. There was a girl standing next to him in the aisle. She was petit and was smiling kindly to the camera. She was also wearing a uniform. Next to Shuya, in the window seat, was a boy leaning across the top of the seats, trying to get himself into the photo. However, his head was cut off from the photo. The red smears were the darkest where his head should have been.

'Is that you and your friends?' asked Jean.

'That was when I was 15,' Shuya explained, 'the girl is called Noriko. The guy on my right is Nobu. We were in 9th grade; class B. Four years ago, my class was chosen to be in a Battle Royale in Japan'

Will and Jean both had a sudden realisation. 'Then you're…'

Shuya unbuttoned his jacket, revealing a series of scars across his chest. 'I'm a survivor of this fucking game.'

Will looked at his battle scars. He must have been shot many times by someone. Jean winced.

'Nobu was killed by our BR director, Kitano. After he died, I promised Noriko that I would take revenge for Nobu and protect her in his place. I did everything I could to protect her. I even had to kill a friend, so the two of us could survive. I joined forces with Kawada, a guy who won a Battle Royale before,' Shuya pointed to his yellow bandana, 'this was his. Together, the three of us, we managed to survive until the end. We even managed to kill Kitano and get back to the mainland. Kawada died of his wounds though, and the BR committee put us on the most wanted list for killing their director.

'Noriko and I were on the run from then on. We moved from town to town, village to village, no real place we could call home. We were always in danger. We had no money, no help. We couldn't trust anybody. We had to survive on our own.

'It was a harsh lifestyle, so I decided that we needed to leave Japan. I got us on a ship to the US, but the FBI found us.

'We tried to make a run for it, but I lost Noriko somewhere along the way. I tried to go back for her but I got captured.

'They put Noriko and me into separate prisons. A few months later, the American BR committee took me out of there and put me here.'

'Why play all over again?' asked Will.

'They drugged me…' grumbled Shuya, 'but when I woke up here, I promised myself that I would not die. I am going to survive and find out where Noriko went.'

Jean looked at the photo again and then passed it back to Shuya.

'Why are you telling us all this…?' asked Will hesitantly. If Shuya was going to survive, it meant that he would have to kill them.

Shuya seemed to understand Will's dilemma. He put his fingers inside his collar behind the black rectangle. He pointed to what he did with his free hand and instructed Will and Jean to do the same. They copied him.

'We have to do this,' said Shuya, 'because the BR guys put microphones in these collars.'

Will and Jean nodded

'I couldn't protect Noriko on my own,' said Shuya, 'so I want you guys to help me get her back. I'll help you get off this island alive. Are you with me?'

They looked at one another. Shuya had saved their lives. If they were going to survive this game, they needed his help.

'Of course we are,' smiled Will.

Shuya fumbled into his pocket and presented Richard's gun and ammunition to Will. 'This is my guarantee,' he said, 'take this and protect her…uh…'

'Jean Rhys,' she told him.

'William Owen,' said Will.

The amicable atmosphere was interrupted by a shrill: 'HELP! HELP!'

It came from outside.

'Turn off the light!' ordered Shuya.

Gun shots could be heard quite closely.

Shuya locked the door and signalled Will and Jean to go underneath the front window. Shuya lifted Jean behind the counter and joined them.

Will peered through the window. 'Who is it?' he asked.

Shuya forced Will's head down. 'It must be that red guy who signed up for fun. We had one of them too.'

Shuya took out his map. 'If we get separated,' Shuya pointed to the north-west corner of the island, 'we meet at "St. Howard's Chapel", OK!?'

* * *

'HELP ME! SOMEBODY!' screamed Alexander.

The ground under his feet exploded. He yelled again. 'AAH! HELP ME!'

Alexander Ginsburg was lucky to have escaped Donne once. As he was taking a rest, Donne sprang out of the bushes and shot with his Carbine. Alexander was wearing his weapon, a bullet-proof vest, but the impact had bruised him and made it impossible for him to play dead. He ran wildly into the dark, hoping for someone to rescue him. He was being shot in the back now, and every time the bullets impacted he felt as if he was having spasms. It wouldn't be long until the bullets finally penetrated his vest.

He looked to his left, there was a small house. He could hear Donne running after him. He dashed towards it. Surely there was someone there!

'It's Alex!' Jean exclaimed, 'he's coming this way!'

'Don't let him in!' ordered Shuya, 'the red guy is chasing him! If he comes here we're all dead!'

Alexander was sure he heard voices inside that house. He ran faster towards the door.

'HELP ME! HELP…'

'He's hit!' Shuya whispered. 'Keep your head down, the red guy's here! '

Alexander could feel the bullets tear into his back. He lost all feeling in his body. He tumbled forward. Why wouldn't anyone help him!

Donne sauntered imperiously over to his prey. He pressed the nose of his gun into Alexander's face. He didn't move. He undid Alexander's supply-pack and looked for anything useful.

'Keep your heads down…' mouthed Shuya.

Donne, satisfied with the hunt, tossed the 'pack to one side and walked away from the body. This would make it how many? Nine? No, one was a suicide…

Alexander feebly looked at the house one last time. He wasn't imagining things; there must have been somebody…

Will lifted his head. 'Is he gone?'

Alexander watched the head appear in the window with fanatical lust. His body managed to spring up and land itself onto the window.

'HELP ME WILL!'

Everyone inside jumped back in horror. The pleading, hanging face searched inside.

'HELP ME WILL!' it shrieked.

Donne turned around. He took aim and fired.

The face at the window twisted in agony, coughing up crimson onto the window. The glass shattered and Jean screamed.

Donne's eyes widened. He fired the machine-gun, guiding the bullets across the façade of the house. There was somebody, no, some people in there…

The bullets zipped and zoomed across the room like a squadron of kamikaze bees. They bounced off the walls and seemed to want to sting them from every direction. Shuya and Jean took cover behind an overturned table. Luckily it was made of metal. Will joined Jenny behind the counter and covered her head.

Donne, still firing, took out a grenade with his free hand and tossed it into the shop.

Will, above the frenzied cacophony, heard something roll across the floor. He risked a quick glance. There was a grenade on the other side of the counter.

Will looked across the room. Shuya and Jean were unharmed, but the metal table was starting to give in. He took the gun he received from Shuya and shouted: 'Run!'

Shuya noticed the grenade. 'Don't do anything stupid!'

Will grabbed the grenade and threw it out the broken window. It exploded in mid-air and Donne took a few steps back in surprise.

With the bullets at a halt, Will whispered urgently to Shuya and Jean.

'Split up!' he ordered, 'We'll come back for Jenny! I promise!'

Before Jean could stop him, Will ran out the door, firing blindly in Donne's direction. Donne took cover behind some trees and reloaded his Carbine. Will continued to shoot until he was at a safe distance to run away. He chose the road leading left to the harbour. Shuya grabbed Jean's hand, ignoring her pleas to go back for Jenny. Donne took a peak and watched them come out. Shuya fired from his shotgun and the bark of the tree shattered. Jean avoided the sight of Alexander's corpse. They fled down the opposite route to Will.

When both parties were out of sight, Donne smiled. The mice were out of their hole. Which one to choose? Chasing the Asian and the girl would be too dangerous. He couldn't tell if the girl had a weapon, and two against one was a risk he wasn't willing to take that night. The first guy out would be best. All he had was a puny handgun. He was also on his own. It would be one-on-one.

Let the chase begin.

This was the fastest that Will had ever run in his life. He knew where he wanted to go, but the woods seemed to go on forever along the path. He couldn't see the road clearly in front of him. He chanced a look back. It seemed as if he was on his own. Did Donne go after _them_ instead? Will paused and gulped in huge breaths. God he was unfit! He wouldn't last much longer at this rate. Should he go back and check if Jenny was alright?

Donne fired through the cloak of the foliage. Will gave out a short cry of pain, which was enough for Donne to pinpoint his position. He was close.

* * *

Shuya, crouched low, retraced his steps back to the little house. Shotgun in hand, he took every little sound seriously, turning his head left and right to see its source. Jean followed closely behind, anxious for Will and Jenny's safety.

'I think he is gone,' whispered Shuya, 'but I keep hearing something…'

'Maybe it's Jenny,' suggested Jean, 'maybe she's finally…'

Shuya abruptly turned to the left and fired. The bullet echoed eerily into the distance. Shuya cocked his rifle, letting the empty shell fall next to his foot.

'You scared me!' Jean exclaimed, 'There isn't anyone…'

Shuya twisted his body and grabbed Jean with his free arm. In one swift movement they both dived onto the ground. A shot was fired and the bullet slammed itself into the tree directly behind Jean.

Before Jean could respond, Shuya picked her up and pushed her away. 'Through the trees!' he barked.

Jean did was she was told and ran into the maze of the forest. She could barely see what was ahead in the darkness. She had to watch the ground to make sure she didn't trip. Shuya followed closely behind with his back half-turned. Someone was still shooting at them.

Shuya fired shot after shot. Shells rained down onto the ground from his rifle.

'Is that psycho chasing us!?' panted Jean.

'It's not him,' answered Shuya, reloading his rifle, 'I think it's a girl!'

Shuya fired again. Jean couldn't believe what Shuya said. She couldn't believe a girl in their class had the guts to kill someone. Who could it be? Did that mean Donne was chasing Will right now? Was he running for his life too?

Another shot flew over Jean's head. Was she aiming for her? No time to think now. She needed to survive. She needed to live for Jenny and Will…

Sylvia dived for cover. The guy with the shotgun had deadly aim. Why was he with Jean? He was ruining her kill! Damn men! Always trying to interfere in her business! No matter. This would just be a tougher challenge for her. Killing just Jean would be too easy. Jean would be more devastated if her knight in shining armour was killed right in front of her!

* * *

Will clutched his left shoulder and kept on ruining. A bullet skimmed it and he was bleeding. He continued his run, trying every way he could to try and dodge Donne's bullets which were buzzing past him. He wasn't going to die here. He made a promise to Jean. He wasn't going to let her down.

Will knew that Donne was only a few metres away from him. He could feel the madman breathing down his neck. Will fired blindly into the trees behind him. He was running out of bullets. He needed someplace to hide.

Will turned a bend and his heart was lifted. He had reached the harbour.

It was a small and desolate port. It was only big enough to let in small fishing boats and there were few buildings standing. He ran to the nearest building which had its door padlocked. He shot the door open and kicked the door open. The building was completely empty. The wide, cobwebbed expanse mocked him. Will glanced back. Donne would arrive soon. He was low on ammunition and he couldn't risk searching for another hiding place. Will panicked. He could hear Donne's footsteps. He's coming!

Something grabbed Will's shoulder. He had a heart attack. Before Will could turn around, another hand covered his mouth. Ignoring his muffled screams, Will was dragged away into the shadows.

Donne scratched his head.

He had checked every corner, every crevice and every crate. He uncovered every conceivable hiding place but the runaway was nowhere to be seen. He was sure he had come down this direction. He heard a gunshot at this harbour just seconds before he arrived. Why couldn't he find him? There was no way he could have escaped without him noticing.

Donne sat himself down on the ground and cursed. He lit a cigarette to calm himself down. He took a deep puff and tried to regain his composure. He was soon joined by a fuzzy little vermin which scuttled across his path. It stopped in front of him and turned its head curiously at the visitor. Donne took his Carbine and shot it with disgust.

'Goddamn mouse…' he mumbled.

* * *

9. Experiment

Will opened his eyes. He sprang out of his sheets. He was sweating. He checked his shoulder. It had been bandaged by someone. He rubbed his eyes and used his hand to wipe his face.

He was in a compact, rectangular room with no windows. The walls and floors were white and polished clean. His 'pack was on the floor next to him and his map was on the night table. Someone had marked off the new danger zones for him.

Will couldn't believe his luck. It was Jason who had grabbed him from behind. By using his GPS device, they were able to bypass Donne at the harbour without being spotted. Together they sneaked back into the woods and Jason led them to an abandoned house. Luckily it was Will's friends who had taken refuge there. Will was taken to this room to be looked after. He must have fallen asleep while they took care of his wound.

The door to his left creaked open softly. A stunning, blue-eyed, pale-skinned girl with glistening, white blonde hair walked in. She met Will's eyes and looked concerned.

'Hi Diane,' greeted Will.

'You're fine-ally up!' she exclaimed, 'You feelin' alright?'

'I am, thanks to you guys,' smiled Will.

Diane Keats sat down on the end of the bed. 'It was a big sur-prise you know!' she said, 'We were just gettin' ready for bed when we hear our door a'knockin'. We thought it was some-body comin' to kill us! You shoulda said who you were first 'cos you scared the heck outta us.'

'Sorry about that,' laughed Will, 'where is Jason?'

'He left right after he put you on the bed. Said he nee-ded t'meet a spe-cial some-one. Ain't that sweet?' Diane gave him a gorgeous, gleaming smile. Will couldn't help but smile back.

Will remembered that he hadn't properly thanked Jason yet for his rescue because of all the chaos of last night. He wanted to see him again.

'Oh yes,' she continued, 'he has a message for you! Sam Beck-ett is waitin' for you on the very west side of the i-sland. He marked it off on your map for you'

Will was relieved that Sam was still alive. 'How long have I been asleep?' he yawned.

'It's just after twelve o'clock right now, so about… Fourteen hours! You musta 'been pretty tired!'

Will gasped. 'Fourteen hours!? I've missed like…three announcements. Tell me, have Jean, Jenny or Shuya's name been called out!?'

'No, they haven't,' Diane replied.

Will gave a sigh of relief. At least Jenny got away safely with them…

Diane looked concerned at Will's sudden burst of anxiety. She lifted Will's map in front of him. 'But don't worry; I even marked off the new dane-ger zones for you!'

Diane's kindness melted Will's heart. 'Thanks Diane, you really are good friend (Diane gave him another sparkling smile). Whose names _have_ been called out, if any of course?'

'Well, at mid-night, the only name called was Alex-xander's.' Will winced, Diane didn't notice, 'At 6 am, he called out Mi-chael's name,'-

_Sylvia put her back to the wall and faced her assailant. Michael Meyer glared furiously at Sylvia, his hands gripped tightly on the handle of his axe. _

'_I've gotcha!' he exclaimed, 'You'll have the pleasure of being my first kill! I'm gonna survive and go home safe and sound! No one will miss an outcast like you!'_

_Sylvia moved her hand surreptitiously into her back pocket and felt the handle of her gun. She had no animosity towards him, but this one would be for self-defence. This would make-up for her failure to kill Jean._

'_No one's going to miss a "man" like you,' she snarled._

-'and at 12pm, he called the names of Beatrix and Tommy.'-

_Tom Elliot couldn't stand up straight. The last blow to the head was affecting his balance. His head was bleeding profusely. He guessed that his skull was cracked._

_He had learned kick boxing for ten years, but he never thought he would have to use it against his own girlfriend. Beatrix had attacked him from behind. It was only after receiving several blows from her hammer that Tom was able to fight back. _

_She was now on her hands and knees in front of him, her head bobbing up and down invitingly. _

_Tom knew this would be his last act. Beatrix had betrayed his trust and he couldn't let her live for that. His foot was shattered but he didn't care. He made one last run up and aimed for her drooping head._

- 'and that's it, thankfully. Conrad's been com-plainin' about the low number o'deaths. If I ever see 'im again, I'll blow his darn head off!'

'We're all thinkin' the same thing Diane,' Will laughed, 'is everyone else in the other room?'

'Oh yes, jus' eatin' some lunch right now,' Diane put her hand to her forehead, 'gosh I forgot! Brad's joined our group this morning. He came in while you were asleep.'

'Brad Cheever!?' asked Will, angrily.

'Well, he said he felt all alone,' explained Diane, taken aback by his reaction, 'what's the harm?'

Will remembered what had happened in the BR building on the night 12A came to the island. Brad had antagonised Andrew into a fight. Then when the fight was broken up, Andrew's collar was chosen for a demonstration…

Will leapt out of bed. He opened the door and stormed out.

Where y'goin?' pleaded Diane.

Will entered the next room. It was slightly larger than the bedroom, and in the middle there was a large, circular table. Diane's friends were all eating there, some sort of green soup. They were all surprised to see him. Brad was nowhere to be seen.

'Hi Will,' greeted Lisa, 'we just started lunch…'

'Where's Brad?' Will asked.

'He went out for a walk, but-' Lisa pointed towards the back door.

Will didn't wait for her to finish. He reached into his pocket and took out his gun.. He drowned out the shouts from the girls and turned the safety off.

'Where's he goin'?' asked Diane.

'He took out a gun and went after Brad!' exclaimed Katie.

Georgia, captain of the girl's rugby team, got up abruptly from her chair and took her weapon out from her bag. It was a Heckler and Koch G36 machine gun.

'He's gone off to kill Brad,' Georgia said, heading for the exit, 'I have to go stop 'em.'

'No wait,' pleaded Hannah, 'let's think this through…'

Georgia stumbled at the door and clutched her stomach. Her face was flushed, and she needed to put her hand on the wall to keep steady.

'What's wrong Georgia?' asked Hannah.

Georgia lurched and vomited, which was met with screams from the girls. Georgia twisted backwards and fell onto the floor. Her breathing was at an incredible speed. Foam dribbled out of her mouth. The girls watched helplessly, not knowing what to do.

All of a sudden, Georgia's body stayed still. She didn't move.

Georgia was dead.

* * *

Brad smiled to himself. He checked his watch. The poison would be working by now. He wasn't going to be the next name on Conrad's list. He was going to live. He was going win.

Brad's weapon was a book on poisonous plants and trees. Brad spent the previous day exploring the forests and he was surprised to find that the island was full of rare and deadly plant life (the BR people probably planted them, he thought). Along his travels he collected poisonous fruits and leaves so he could use them to kill unsuspecting classmates. These were the perfect weapons of death. No one would suspect a thing. It was a quick and clean way of murder. It was full-proof.

Brad entered the girls' hideout so he could perform his first murder. They were a bunch of stupid, naïve girls who looked easy to eliminate. Brad was more eager to kill when he learned that Will was in the other room. Will would blame him for Andrew's death and come after him the second he awoke. Killing Will along with all the girls would be the cherry on top.

When the group decided to have some lunch, Brad insisted that he would for them to thank them for their generous hospitality. He decided to poison them by making a soup made from the fruits and leaves of the Yellow Oleander tree. This deadly tree caused slow pulses, vomiting and shock if any part of the tree is eaten. Once everybody in the house drank his soup, he would have eliminated 6 people! He was the best Battle Royale-ist ever!

'BRAD!'

Brad knew that voice, it was William Owen…

* * *

The panicked girls surrounded Georgia's body, quaking in fear and confusion.

'How did she die?' cried Hannah.

'It looks like she was…_poisoned_.' exclaimed Lisa.

'Poisoned!?' said Diane, baffled, 'But how…'

The girls turned to the table. Steam was still dancing out of some of their plates. There was only one empty dish…

'The soup...' said Lisa, 'Georgia ate all her soup first! None of us took a sip yet!'

Hannah gave glances to each of the girls. 'Then who put the poison in the…?'

Katie grabbed Georgia's G36 off the floor and aimed it at her friends.

'Who did it!?' she demanded, 'Who poisoned her!?'

'Put the gun down Katie!' Diane implored, 'this is some kinda mistake!'

'Is it!?' screamed Katie, pointing the gun towards Diane, 'Is it 'cos _you_ did the poisoning!?'

'No, I didn't!' Diane cried.

Katie aimed her gun at Hannah. 'Hannah, you're the one who made the soup, right?'

'I was just helping Brad!' she whimpered, 'it was him! It must've been…'

'Trying to put the blame on that nerd, Hannah?' said Katie, disdainfully, 'when _you _were the actual culprit!'

'SHUT UP!' screamed Lisa. 'You're probably the one scheming with Brad, aren't you Katie! Trying to kill us all off so you two can go off together!'

'What the hell are you-'

Something was thrown into the room through an open window and it landed in the middle of the four girls. It was a cylindrical canister which rocked back and forth in the centre. Before they could make sense of it, it exploded.

* * *

'BRAD! BRAD! I know you're out here! Show yourself!'

He was getting closer. Brad started running at full speed through a small forest.

How was he still alive? Did he not drink the soup? Did he wake up late? Did one of those girls see through his plan? No, that was impossible. His plans were always full-proof. That wasn't important right now anyway. That Will guy was chasing him and he wasn't going to get caught. He survived this long so far. He was going to win!

Through his haste, Brad tripped over a tree root and fell full force into a jet black tree. As he steadied himself, he noticed that his palms were cut. The bark was unusually jagged. Don't think about it! Keep going! You life is more important!

But as he kept going, he suddenly lost all sense of balance. He fell over clumsily and even tough he laid on the ground flat on his back the world kept spinning around him. His body started going into quick spasms. He felt a burning pain down his spine. What was going on?

That tree…was it, a "Smokeweed Tree"?

When Brad read over his book to find the perfect poison, one of the trees that caught his eye was the "Smokeweed Tree". Ingesting or smoking the leaves of this tree was common among Native American tribes, but get any part of the leaf or bark into your bloodstream, for example, through an open wound, the poison would cause death in 3-5 minutes. The trees were characterised by the unusually _sharp _texture of its bark. Most experts believed they were extinct after the colonisation of America.

They were wrong.

Brad had already suffered vertigo and paralysis. Next he would suffer shock, extreme asphyxia: a lack of oxygen in the body. Then slowly, but surely…

Brad's body twisted. It had begun.

Will stopped in his tracks. He heard an explosion coming from the house. He also heard gunshots. He gave up looking for Brad and turned back.

* * *

Donne was quite surprised at what had just unfolded. He had heard the shouts of screaming girls inside the house and decided to experiment. He taped a grenade to a tear gas canister and threw it into the house. Watching from a safe distance, the grenade exploded, causing the tear gas to envelope the people inside instantly.

He heard confused screams, followed by continuous rounds of gunfire. When most of the smoke cleared, Donne checked inside and made sure there was no one left alive. The people inside were shot dead. The only girl alive was holding a machine gun and was crawling around the room wailing for help. She was coughing heavily and her eyes were streaming red tears. Donne put her out of her misery and continued his quest to find more targets.

Will needed to wait a few minutes before he went back inside the house. He had come into contact with the gas and the smoke was choking him. His skin was intolerably itchy and his eyes felt as if they were on fire. He couldn't believe what he was seeing when he went in. The girls who were sitting at the table moments ago were on the floor dead. Their skin was bright red and it seemed as if someone had shot them numerous times. The whole room was covered in bullet holes. Will leaned over the body of Diane and cried genuine tears.

* * *

10. Sorry

Conrad yawned.

With his announcement duties, he could only get a few hours of sleep a day. He got off his couch and ordered one of his men to make some coffee. He went over to a magazine rack and took out a copy of _Playboy_. He had already seen all the pictures so he decided to read the articles. His coffee came. It was lukewarm and bitter. He reached into his box of chocolates and shoved one in his mouth. He made a sour face and spat it out of his mouth. Coconut…

Conrad checked the time. 12:57. Only 10 minutes had passed since he last looked. He shuffled towards the communications men on the far side of the room and leaned on the back of one of their chairs.

'Good afternoon sir,' greeted a BR man robotically, his eyes transfixed on the screens.

'Is the next danger zone ready to go, Heller…?' Conrad yawned.

'Yes sir,' Heller answered, 'we are about to place a danger zone where Girls #15 is currently located. She hasn't been mobile for a day now. Yet even after your recent announcement of the new danger zones, sir, Girls #15 continues to be inactive. I believe she's chosen suicide.'

Conrad checked the list. Girls #15… Plath…

'This is Jenny Plath we're talkin' about,' Conrad retorted, 'she wouldn't give up a marathon if her legs were cut off.'

'Judging by her pulse rate…' another BR man began, 'Girls #15 has been unconscious since yesterday afternoon. It must have happened during her confrontation with Boys #20.'

'She's excess baggage' Heller grinned, 'no wonder she was abandoned by her peers.'

Conrad licked his lips, 'This'll teach her to challenge my authority…'

* * *

Beep...Beep…Beep…

Jenny mumbled and reached for her alarm clock.

Beep…Beep…Beep….

Her hand swatted thin air. She lifted her eyes open. Where _was_ the damn thing? As she got up a searing pain flashed on the back of her head. She felt around and noticed that it was bandaged.

Beep…Beep…Beep…

She brushed herself down and found that she had slept on the floor. She was in some sort of wooden house. It was in a terrible state though. The floor was dusty and everything seemed to be covered with holes…

Beep..Beep..Beep

She seemed to have slept wearing some necklace. She felt around her neck for it. It was thicker than she expected. Was the beeping coming from this…?

Beep..Beep..Beep..

She made her way to the door but stopped abruptly. There was a sword on the floor. She picked it up. Why did it look so familiar?

Beep, Beep, Beep,

Jenny had a sudden flashback. She remembered everything. Conrad, Will, Jean, Alejandro, Ritchie…

Where were they?

BeepBeepBeep…

The collar!

Jenny scanned the room but she couldn't find her map. How long was she out? Was she in a danger zone? Where the hell were Will and Jean! Her breathing accelerated. Her heart was in spasms. She burst through the door.

BEEPBEEPBEEP!

The noise was ringing in her ears. She dashed outside with utter terror. The collar was going to explode. In front of her were two paths. She tried to decide but she couldn't think straight. She looked back at the house. Were they hiding somewhere? What was that underneath the window?

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEEP!

'WILL!!! JEAN!!!'

Her head was jerked backwards. She stared blankly at the clear sky and let her body topple. Her last thought was of Alejandro. Her mind had been totally haunted by what she had done to him...

Jenny's gaped mouth whispered softly.

'I'm sorry Al…'

* * *

Shuya grabbed Jean's arm and pulled her backwards. She told him to let her go but he continued to grip her wrist tightly.

'What are you doing?' asked Jean angrily, 'That was Jenny's voice. She was calling for me! If we don't hurry…'

Shuya glanced at his watch and shook his head sombrely.

'We are too late,' stated Shuya, 'Take one more step and you will enter a danger zone…'

'No…' Jean sobbed, 'We can't leave her! We promised her that we'd stick together! We promised her that she would never be left behind again! You told me that we could get to her in time!'

Shuya was speechless, 'I'm sorry…'

Jean tried to pull her way out of Shuya's hold but it was no use. After several attempts she dropped to the ground. Shuya finally released her, letting her bury her face in her hands.

* * *

If one was sharp enough, one would hear the sound of a girl's sobbing among the crashing of waves against cliff. If one was vigilant enough one would find this girl hiding atop a small hill inland facing the shore. If one was to use their nose they would smell the lavender fragrance of her perfume. If one wanted one could go and hunt her down…

Sylvia was this hunter. She knew that only Anna Radcliffe, the meanest girl of 12A, sprayed this scent on her. Sylvia could always smell her coming with her cronies, ready to do something unspeakably horrible. Every time Sylvia smelled lavender she would always see an image of Anna in her head. All the bad memories would start flooding back. She would feel every punch, every scratch and every kick she had endured. She would never mistake the scent of lavender. She despised that horrible smell which triggered so many gruesome memories. Sylvia knew she was getting close to the wretched flower…

The sound of sobbing grew louder with every step. It was coming from the top of a small hill. Sylvia could see Anna's outline at the summit, blackened by the glare of the sun. Sylvia gripped her gun and made her journey to the top.

This was what Sylvia had been waiting for, a chance to deservedly end the life of that beast. This was sweet, succulent revenge for all those times Anna insulted her, spat on her, beat her, destroyed her possessions, stolen her boyfriend! Sylvia was going to do a favour to al those girls out there who were tormented by that witch. She was going to be the hero of all womankind. With this whore dead, the world would become a much happier place. Get ready world! You will be cleansed soon!

Sylvia reached the top. Anna had her back to her, still crying. Her legs were folded and cradled in her arms. She hadn't noticed her new arrival.

Sylvia stood a safe distance away from her and aimed her gun at her head. Her eyes lit up with joy and lust. This was it. This was the moment.

'Turn around, Anna,' Sylvia ordered.

Anna turned her head around. She was still weeping but it seemed that her eyes were cried out. She was biting down on her bottom lip with such force that blood was trickling down her neck. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her salt-beaten hair blew frantically in the wind. Anna looked at Sylvia's gun but didn't seem to react at all.

This vulnerable side of Anna surprised Sylvia. She had never seen anyone cry that hard in her life. For a moment Sylvia was overwhelmed by Anna's appearance but reminded herself that this was still the Anna that once sprayed painted her bag with the word "slut" repeatedly.

What Anna said next shook Sylvia to the core. Anna opened her mouth slowly and said:

'I'm sorry for what I am…'

Sylvia was taken aback. This wasn't the Anna she wanted to meet.

'My friends are dead,' Anna continued, 'my parents hate me…I have no one...'

What was this, a trick? Sylvia tried to find some explanation for Anna's sudden show of weakness.

Anna slowly stood up. Sylvia wanted to shoot but found that her fingers were trembling.

What was she doing?

Anna stood crookedly, letting her arms dangle at her sides. Her pathetic stance bewildered Sylvia. Who was this person standing in front of her? This was not Anna of 12A. This wasn't the girl who made her life a misery. This wasn't the girl who stood tall as she watched her suffer! This wasn't the Anna who showed no mercy!

'WHO ARE YOU!?' Sylvia screamed.

'Shoot me Sylvia, please…' she answered.

Whether it was because of what Anna said or because of the overwhelming anger and confusion which built up inside her, Sylvia pulled the trigger and ended the life of the meanest girl in 12A.

* * *

11. West

Jason checked his device. Yes, she was definitely in here. He had finally found her.

After Jason dropped off Will, He decided to find the one person who had not moved at all since the first day of Battle Royale. He was sure it was Sarah Didion. Now she was in this abandoned warehouse somewhere. He needed to tell her now.

Sarah watched Jason walk through the entrance and her heart stopped. She didn't dare make a sound. Everyone in her class was dying. Her friends were dying. She didn't want to be the next victim. She had survived this far. He wasn't going to take her.

Sarah was positioned high up on a row of shelves on the far side of the warehouse. Hiding behind cardboard boxes, she was difficult to spot.

Jason checked his device. It told him she was straight ahead. Jason looked up. She was somewhere in here. He decided to call out her name.

Jason sprinted to the back wall. 'Sarah! Answer me please!'

Sarah panicked. He found her, but how? She took out her gun. It's either him or me!

She emerged from her hiding place and yelled a war cry. Before Jason could react, she fired bullet after bullet at him. Jason's body twisted and turned until it couldn't take anymore. He crumbled in front of Sarah, who, even after firing all of her bullets, kept pulling the trigger over and over again at Jason's supine body.

Jason turned his head to face her and feebly waved his hand.

'Run, Sarah,'

Sarah stopped triggering. She was stunned by what he said. 'What…?'

'There's someone else near here,' he explained, waving his device in the air, 'he'll have heard the gunshots…run…'

'Why?' Sarah jumped down. 'Why are you saying this?'

'I actually came… to try and save you…because…'

Sarah understood the horrible truth. She shook her head. 'Are you…'

Jason nodded frailly, 'Since 2nd grade…' Jason stayed silent.

Sarah knelt by his side. 'How could I have known?' she cried, 'You never said a word to me all these years! What am I supposed to do now? Wake up Jason! I'm sorry!'

Sarah heard footsteps in front of her. She looked up. She yelled. The bullets pummelled her. She fell on Jason's body.

Matthew Donne walked up to the ill-fated lovers and lit a cigarette. 'Romeo and Juliet…' he sighed.

He put away his Carbine and checked their weapons. The girl's gun was empty but the guy's one was quite interesting. Donne examined he screen and found that there were four people towards the west of the island, another three at a chapel towards the north, and a solo runner moving east to west.

He chose the students that were nearest to him and headed west.

* * *

'How's everyone holdin' up? It's time for the 6pm announcements! We're fast approaching day two and I've gotta say the past six hours have been a real rush! The death toll this time has been the highest since we started the game! I'm very proud of your efforts class! Give yourselves a big round of applause! You deserve it! This contest is coming to an enthralling finish! If you don't believe me, then I'll let my list do the talkin' for me!

'Girls #7 Georgia Hulme,

Girls #20 Lisa Trilling,

Girls #8 Diane Keats,

Girls # 9 Hannah Lawrence,

Boys #4 Brad Cheever,

Girls #13 Katie Pascal,

Girls #15 Jenny Plath

Girls #17Anna Radcliffe,

Girls #4 Sarah Didion,

and last but not least: Boys #16 Jason Orwell!

'Can you believe it? 10 people! I don't know what your motivations were, but keep at it and we'll have a winner in no time! With all those killings it means there are only 9 of you left! Who's gonna be the winner? Only you guys can decide!

'Now, for the finale, it's the all important danger zones! I'm gonna be nice and only add two more this time! They are…'

* * *

'I thought she was with you!' Will shouted.

'We were being shot at! We had to leave her behind!' Jenny explained.

'If you came back for her _earlier_ she would still be with us!'

'If _you_ hadn't left the girls they still might be alive!'

'I was going after Brad! What do you expect me to-'

'Did _you _kill him!?'

'No! I went back to-'

'ENOUGH!' Shuya barked.

Shuya glared at them with fierce eyes. They had been arguing ever since Will met up with them. After they recounted each other's stories and heard Conrad's announcement the blame game began.

'I'm sorry Jean,' Will said, 'Shuya's right. Arguing won't get us anywhere.'

'I'm sorry too,' Jean replied, 'it's just…ten people… _our_ classmates have…'

Jean tried her hardest to stay strong. Will could feel the tears welling up inside of her. He had nothing but profound respect for her strong spirit. Will couldn't let her die. He made a promise. She deserved to live….

'Hey Will,' Shuya called.

'Yeah,' Will answered, 'their names weren't called out. That means they're probably still there. Let's go. We're goin' to see Sam.'

* * *

12. Safety

Outside the entrance of the café was a 30 metre path going right towards the main road of the island. Here Sam and his friends set up a barricade, ready to fight anyone who came to eliminate them.

They had spent the previous days busily preparing themselves for a possible invasion. After Jason's visit they travelled to the nearby scrap yard and spent the rest of the day hauling two rusted, beat-up cars back to the café. Everything from the seats to the engines was already taken out of them so their task was made a little easier. They placed these cars perpendicular to the café entrance, facing sideways towards the main road. One was placed about 5 metres forward to the right of the other, so that the two cars were placed diagonally. The cars were to act as barriers to enemy fire.

The following day was focused entirely on making Charlie and Roxanne some weapons. They collected lumps of zinc from a smelting factory and extracted sulphur from fertilizers found at an old orchard. By using these two elements Sam was able to create five "flash bombs" for Roxanne. By collecting sharp bits of metal, Sam easily made makeshift "ninja death stars" for Charlie.

The café was built on a cleared field surrounded by forests. If someone chose to attack from behind the trees, Sam could shoot from inside the cover of the café building through the windows. If the attacker had guns, they would still have to come into the clearing to get in range, becoming exposed. The only safe route in would have had to be from the main road, where an attacker could get into range but have cover from some trees. For that reason Sam placed the barriers outside the entrance so that he could come out to face them head-on.

After the 6pm announcements, the three friends got into position. Roxanne stayed on the roof, watching for enemy movements with her binoculars. Charlie hid behind the front car and Sam behind the second.

The sun began to set. The sky was ablaze with a brilliant orange glow. The clouds turned pink and crows cawed as they flew across the horizon. Everything was calm. Sam cocked his handgun. Charlie whistled the theme tune from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

Come and get us!

'He's here!' Roxanne called.

Just as Sam predicted, Donne had come down from the main road, unaware of what they had in store for him.

Donne checked the device. Yes, there were people here. He placed the device on the ground and stamped on his cigarette. He reloaded his Carbine and walked slowly down the path.

The place _looked_ deserted. The building was crumbling. There were abandoned cars outside and there seemed to be no one inside the café. The thing that bugged Donne the most was the position of the two cars. Where were they…?

Something fell from the roof of the café. Donne watched as it rolled across the ground. It halted a few feet in front of him. It was an old, rusted kettle. Donne looked left and right before he went and picked it up. As he examined it, he began to hear something indistinct coming from inside. He pressed his ear against the metal and listened closely. Was it…sizzling? He lifted the lid.

The flash bomb blew up in his hand. Dazzling white light flashed into Donne's face and scorched his eyes. He yelled and stumbled. He couldn't see.

'Go!' Sam shouted.

Donne was standing farther away than Sam expected. He was standing about 25 metres away, which meant Charlie needed to throw his projectiles with precise accuracy and strength. Charlie threw a death star as if it was a baseball. It hit Donne square in the shoulder. Donne groaned and stumbled. He grabbed the death star and yanked it out, letting blood burst out of the wound.

Sam could see this guy was dangerous. He shot at him, but Donne was expecting it. He dived behind a tree. He fired wildly into Sam's direction, but he was well shielded by the car.

Donne growled and tried to lift his burnt eyelids. His vision was badly damaged. He could barely make out the fingers on his hands. He had grossly underestimated these kids. He looked back and could still make out the outline of the building and the two cars as the sun was setting behind them. He came out and shot at them again.

'Get down!' Sam ordered.

Charlie ducked and gritted his teeth. He was afraid, but he couldn't let Sam and Roxanne down. He wasn't going to let them die.

'Roxy! Another one!' Sam called.

Roxanne took another flash bomb, lit the fuse and threw it towards Donne. Donne heard the bomb fall and quickly retreated. As it exploded Sam shot at him. A bullet entered Donne's side and another skimmed his legs. Charlie threw two more death stars. One struck Donne's back and the other narrowly missed his head.

Donne hid behind the tree again and pulled out the death stars with rage. He had had enough. He stuffed the Carbine into his pants and took out two grenades from his pocket. He guessed the distance by the noise of gunfire and threw them towards the cars.

One landed in between the two cars. The other landed straight behind Sam.

'Grenade!' Sam screamed.

Charlie ran into the café and avoided the blast. Sam tried to run away from it but it wasn't enough. The force of the blast threw him off his feet and he landed heavily on his back.

For a while Sam was disoriented. There was a loud ringing in his ears and everything sounded muffled. He looked around for his gun. He had lost it during the blast. Charlie came out of the café and seemed to ask if Sam was okay. Sam gave him a "thumbs up". Roxanne was also looking at him, leaning over the side of the roof with concern.

The three friends were distracted.

Donne crept up rapidly to the side of the building and threw a third grenade onto the roof.

Sam noticed something small fly up behind Roxanne. When he realised what it was his hearing came back instantly. He gestured to her to run away.

'GRENADE!!!' he yelled.

Roxanne gave him a confused look. The grenade behind her exploded. Her body was tossed into the air. She plummeted onto the roof of Sam's car with devastating force.

Sam screamed her name. Charlie left his barrier and ran back to her.

'ROXY!' he cried.

Donne showed himself and aimed for the exposed back of Charlie. Sam saw him and he raised his hands at Charlie.

'DON'T!' Sam barked.

Charlie turned around. The bullets ripped into him. Before he fell he reached into his pockets with both hands and threw death stars at Donne aimlessly. Charlie's last act was not for nothing though. A surprising number of them implanted themselves into Donne's legs. Donne shrieked and crumpled onto the ground, dropping his gun and clutching his knees.

Sam saw it was safe and rushed to Charlie's side. Some of the bullets had penetrated through his body and he was in a critical state. Sam held him in his arms and began to weep. His friend was dying and he could do nothing about it.

Charlie looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. 'Sam…it hurts….Commander it hurts…'

'You idiot…!' Sam cried.

'It…it hurts…it…' Charlie's eyes rolled backwards.

'Charlie you…' Sam burst into tears.

Donne crashed his fist onto the ground.

Sam watched as the red devil slowly lifted himself up. Sam placed Charlie gently on the ground and tried to run back to his barrier.

Donne heard his footsteps and he fired. The bullets narrowly missed his legs. Sam tried to run the opposite way but the result was the same. Sam was trapped.

Donne held the Carbine with trembling hands. His knees were wobbling. With every move of his legs the death stars would dig into them. He couldn't risk taking them out in case a nerve was severed. His eyes began to bleed and all he could see was red. He aimed his rifle blindly at Sam's general direction. This mouse wasn't getting away!

Sam kept perfectly still and made no noise. His foe was disabled but what could he do? He had no weapon and he would surely get shot the next time he moved. He needed to do something, but what…?

Sam was startled by footsteps coming from behind him. He turned his head and his mouth dropped to the floor.

Tyson Berryman limped noiselessly towards Sam. He had a handgun held by a dangling arm. His body was in a grave state as well. Bullet-holes lined the front of his chest. His shirt was drenched in red and his skin was dripping sweat. How long had he been like that?

Tyson looked blankly at Sam. 'Get down…' he coughed.

Sam crawled silently out of his way to let him through. Donne perked his ears up. It wasn't one of the three. He had heard this voice from somewhere…damn his eyes! Damn his legs!

Donne moved his aim to Tyson's head. Tyson aimed for Donne's chest. Tyson gave him an intense glare. Sam was surprised by how Donne had reacted to it. Did he flinch?

'Safety's _off_, asshole,' muttered Tyson.

Donne fired his Carbine. Tyson darted to the right and squeezed the trigger once. Donne shrieked as the bullet struck through his heart. He landed with a thud and lay still, his Carbine clattering harmlessly away from his body. Tyson dropped his gun.

'That's for you Byron…Nick…Rufus…Maiesha…'

He turned to Sam and smiled. With his deed done, the last of Tyson's energy drained out of his body and the most athletic student of 12A finally let his body fall and rest.

The area became hushed. Sam glanced at all of the bodies which surrounded him. He walked across to Donne's destroyed body and gave him a cold look.

'You got what you deserved…' he muttered.

Sam gave a deep sigh and collapsed onto the ground. He stayed there for a while, completely still. He watched the pink clouds turn purple as they swam across the setting sky. He listened to the crows caw home; the trees dancing with the wind. He felt the crisp breeze caress his face. He thought about his friends and began to cry again.

Was this really happening? Was this all a dream?

* * *

13. Friends

'Listen up class! We're getting' down to the wire! It's zero hour and we're now in our last 24 hours of Battle Royale! Don't be disappointed! We still haven't got a winner! Now here's the list of your classmates who didn't make the final cut:

'Girls #18 Roxanne Rousseau

Boys #18 Charlie Porter

Boys #7 Matthew Donne

Boys #3 Tyson Berryman

'That shoot-out kept me on the edge of my seat! Well done to Tyson for eliminating Matthew! Too bad he died in the process! Oh well, you win some, you lose some. That means there are only 5 of you left! Use the next 24 hours wisely and find your remaining classmates to win!'

* * *

'He knows it's just _us_ left,' Sam said, 'why does he still put on that act?'

'I know,' Jean agreed, 'that freak's gone now. We're safe.'

Sam was found by Will, Jean and Shuya after night fall. They paid their respects to Sam's fallen comrades and moved as far away from the café as possible. They decided to camp at the nearby scrap yard that Sam had visited only hours before with Charlie and Roxanne. They covered their microphones with their fingers and debated about what their next move should be.

'We gotta find Sylvia,' Will said, 'I doubt that she's been _murdering_ people all this time. She must be hiding somewhere on the island.'

'And then what?' Sam retorted, 'all we got is Shuya's s shotgun! Are _we_ supposed to run into their compound with no weapons?'

'What about those flash bombs you had?' Will replied angrily.

'A couple of fireworks aren't going to beat a hundred armed men with machine guns! Besides, the area around their building is covered in danger zones. There's only one way in and that's where they're gonna place their guards! They might even have rocket-launchers for all we know!'

'We have to decide soon guys,' Jean interjected, 'I checked our map and well… when the new one is added at 1am this area is gonna be bordered by danger zones. We'll be trapped.'

'By trapping us in a ring of fire,' Shuya said, 'they are hoping that we might try to kill each other off.'

'Alright, alright…' Will groaned, 'I think we all agree that finding Sylvia is our number one priority, right?'

The group nodded.

'Then let's get moving…' Sam said, picking his 'pack up, 'we might have to travel to the other end of the island to find her'

'You don't have to go that far…'

It was a girl's voice. Everyone looked left and right to see where it came from.

'Sylvia?' Jean called.

'Sylvia! Are you out there?' Will shouted.

'Don't be afraid! We're here to help!' Sam yelled.

Sam noticed a figure behind a pile of old washing machines.

'Come out Sylvia!' he said invitingly, 'We were just about to-'

Sylvia's gun boomed across the yard. Sam groaned and dropped to the ground clutching his shoulder.

Will's heart dropped. 'SAM!!! NO!!!'

Sylvia emerged swiftly from her hiding place and stamped on Sam's stomach. Sam growled and he turned his body so it faced upwards. She held her gun in her right hand and aimed it at Sam's chest. She was holding Jason's device in her left.

Sylvia looked at Shuya who was reaching for his shotgun. 'Stop it right there!' she ordered. 'Throw your weapon away or,' she gave a quick glance to Sam, 'I kill Sam.'

Shuya had no choice. He tossed his weapon over his head and it clattered a good few yards behind him.

Will clenched his fists. 'Sylvia…why are you…?'

'For revenge and victory, Will,' she answered.

Sam noticed the GPS device, 'Did you kill Jason for that?' he asked angrily.

Sylvia lifted the device, 'What this?' she tossed it to one side, 'I found it on the ground, as a matter-of-fact. Your accusations have just lost you your living privileges.'

Sylvia pulled the trigger. Sam screamed and his body jumped. The bullet went straight between his ribs.

'SAM!!!' Will shouted, running towards her 'You bitch! You have no idea what he's been through!'

Sylvia raised her gun at him and Will skidded to a halt, 'You have know idea of what _I've_ been through _all_ my life!' she yelled.

'What are you saying?' Jean asked.

Sylvia moved her aim to Jean. 'Give me Jean and I won't shoot you boys!'

Sam's body twitched on the ground, 'Will…' Sam rasped.

Will gasped, 'Sam, are you…?'

Sam coughed up blood. It wasn't a miracle. He was going to die.

To everyone's amazement, Sam smiled.

'I still…owe you… twenty bucks…from poker…' he coughed.

Will burst into tears. 'You're broke, remember…?'

'You always won…but I sure…had fun…'

In a whisper too low for the others to hear, Sam uttered his final words: 'I'm coming… President Porter…'

Sylvia couldn't take it. Why was he smiling when he was dying!? This didn't make sense! Why did he smile!?

Sylvia turned back to the group, 'Hand over Jean!'

Will brushed away his tears, 'Why do you want her so badly?'

'I've killed Anna Radcliffe!' she declared, 'don't make me ask again!'

'You _killed_ Anna Radcliffe?' asked Jean.

'Yes I did,' Sylvia said proudly, 'aren't you happy? That monster's gone forever! She'll never torment us again!'

'What are you saying,' Jean began, '_you're_ the monster! How dare you take someone's life for your own enjoyment?'

Sylvia grimaced, '_Enjoyment_!? I fulfilled a mission! I did what everybody wanted! I killed that bitch for _you_! Why are you mad? She was a tormentor! You should be glad I got rid of her! Why am _I _the monster!?'

'Murder…is that how you earn friends?' Jean asked.

'_I _wouldn't know!' Sylvia replied, 'You guys never tried to be my friend!'

'By spilling the blood of another human being, is that how people become friends?'

'I…I did a favour!'

Jean walked up to her slowly, 'By pulling a trigger at someone, is that how people become friends?'

Sylvia put both hands onto her gun, 'Stop bitch! I'll shoot you!'

Will stepped in front of Jean and stood firm, 'If you want her, you gotta shoot me first!' he said.

'Get outta the way!' Sylvia screamed, 'I've got no beef with you!'

Shuya came and stood next to Will, 'You must shoot both of us,' he said adamantly.

'Why are _you _defending _her_? You don't even know her!'

'Will and Jean are important to me. Therefore I will protect them.'

What was with these people? What had gotten into everybody? Why didn't they give up Jean to save their own skins? How could he choose to risk his life for a complete stranger? Why could he laugh when he was dying? How could _she _cry when she _laughed_ when others _wep_t?

'WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?' Sylvia screamed.

Will started to walk towards Sylvia, 'We're "friends".' he said.

Tears began to run down Sylvia's cheeks, 'What…what did you say…?'

'Hurting others doesn't get you friendship,' Will began, still keeping his stride, 'screaming at others doesn't get you friends. Blaming the world doesn't get you friends. Putting a gun to someone's head doesn't get you friends!'

'Stay…Stay back…'

'Caring for others get you friends. Respecting people's beliefs get you friends. Apologising after a fight gets you friends. Helping out a person in need gets you friends…'

'But…but you never even said "hi"…'

'THEN WHY DON'T YOU SAY IT ONCE IN A WHILE!?'

Will was now face to face with her.

'Friendship isn't a bus! You can't just sit there, do nothing and wait for someone to come along and suddenly decide to be your friend! Real friendship has to be earned by making each other happy!'

'I'LL SHOOT!'

'I'll do _anything_ to protect my friends!'

Sylvia screamed and pulled the trigger. Her gun clicked harmlessly. She had no bullets left. Sylvia couldn't believe it. Will hadn't flinched or even tried to avoid her gun. He stood there solidly, unyielding. She clenched her teeth and continued to pull the trigger.

'Why are you doing this…' she whimpered.

'That's what friends do,' said Jean, walking up to her, 'if their friends are in danger they help them out. They do that because they love their friends. If you lost your friends, life would be empty. Real friends don't sit back and let others get hurt. What you did is the complete opposite to what real friends do…'

Jean slapped her across the face. Tears flew off Sylvia's cheeks. Sylvia dropped her gun and turned to Jean with horror.

'YOU'RE JUST A COLD-BLOODED MURDERER!'

Sylvia stood frozen for a while. How could she have been so wrong? She slumped to the ground and sobbed. What had she become?

Shuya shrugged and went to retrieve his shotgun. Will went over to Sam's body and wept. Jean kept watch over the defeated Sylvia. What now?

Sylvia slowly stood up and met Jean's eyes with hers, 'Don't stop me…'

Jean understood what she meant. Without another word Sylvia made her way out of the scrap yard and into the dark.

Will, who had his back turned, returned to Jean's side and asked her where Sylvia was.

Jean didn't want to answer him. Shuya picked up Jason' device and showed it to Will. He pointed to a yellow dot on the screen moving towards a red square.

'When that dot disappears, she's dead…' he explained.

The three friends watched as the dot reached the danger zone. They stayed in the yard until Sylvia vanished from the screen.

* * *

14. "I Promise"

'Wake-up you three! It's 6am! I think you guys know already, but I'm going to remind you anyway! The two students who have perished since midnight are:

Boys #2 Sam Beckett

and Girls #6 Sylvia Hayter!

'I loved your speeches about friendship, Will and Jean! I wonder why you never joined the debating team!

'I don't mean to be the bringer of bad news, but I've just gotta remind you three that if there is no winner at half past one tonight, all of your collars will explode! So sort it out amongst yourselves or else we're gonna do the choosin' for ya! See you then!'

Conrad turned his microphone off and collapsed on his couch. He reached for the donut sitting on his coffee-table and took a bite out of it. He licked the sugar around his mouth and took a gulp of orange juice. He opened up his newspaper and continued to read it in silence.

The BR men in the room watched Conrad's nonchalance and looked at each other with concern. The BR man with glasses plucked up his courage and approached the back of Conrad's couch.

'Sir,' he said, nervously.

'What is it Calvino?' Conrad answered, without turning his head.

'My comrades and I have concerns over the current situation,' he explained.

'What about?'

'It's about the three remaining students, sir. They've been travelling together for a while now and…we believe they have developed some sort of bond with each other.'

'What's wrong with that?'

'We don't believe that they'll want to eliminate each other, despite your warnings.'

'So? If they choose to wait it out then all of their collars will explode in the end.'

Calvino walked around the couch and went to speak with Conrad face-to face, 'We've heard stories about what this Nanahara kid did in Japan's Battle Royale.'

'So… you've read his file?' Conrad said, folding his newspaper.

'He's able to disengage his collar! Even with the new modifications, we can't be sure that they're 100% unbreakable! What if this kid could take it off?'

'We've got machine guns!' Conrad boasted, 'We have 150 fully-trained men, including you, Calvino! Nanahara and his two "buddies" are pipsqueaks compared to us! They can't escape! What's the worry?'

'You chose me as your no.2 because of my ability to identify and extinguish _all_ factors which can affect an operation. I say Shuya Nanahara must be put down _immediately_! Your life could be at risk, sir!'

Conrad giggled.

'I do not find risks to your life humorous, sir!' shouted Calvino angrily.

Conrad stood up abruptly and grabbed Calvino's shoulders. He spoke with a frightening sneer and overwhelming confidence.

'Shuya Nanahara can _never_ kill me…' he grinned.

* * *

The sun had risen over the island. The day was quite hot but the frequent sea breeze offered cool relief from the heat. The island was so peaceful now. There were no sounds of screams or gunfire to disturb the peace. The island itself had become tranquil.

The three survivors spent the rest of last night resting. They tried to get some sleep but they were too many things on their minds. That morning they sat facing the sea for awhile, watching the waves slap against the cliff side. It was a welcome distraction to their present situation.

The three friends sat together, side-by-side on the smooth cliff rock. After the 6am announcement, Jean finally broke the silence.

'I thought I knew everything about the world before,' she said, 'but after what's happened here, it turns out that I've just been blind to the real harshness of the world.'

'Some things are meant to be unknown,' said Shuya, 'you have just been unlucky to have witnessed this contest.'

Jean stared at the glistening ocean in front of her, 'Why can't life just be like this?' she asked, 'Why can't people just relax and appreciate the wonders of the world around them?'

'Humans were built to destroy…' Shuya answered.

Jean looked at Will's empty eyes. 'What are you going to do after this, Will?' she asked.

'I'm going to learn from this,' he answered, confidently, 'I'm going to become a responsible adult. I'm going to try and stop this sick game from ever happening again. 12A will not have died for nothing!'

Jean looked at him with admiration, 'I'll help you too.'

'You guys won't be able to…' said Shuya, with a change of tone.

'Why's that?' asked Will suspiciously.

'When the BR committee took me in, they said that they would give Noriko back to me if I survived this contest,'

Shuya cocked his shotgun and aimed it at Will and Jean

'What are you doing?' Will laughed hesitantly, 'Put the gun down Shuya…'

Jean huddled close to Will, 'Shuya, you're scaring me.'

'Sorry guys,' said Shuya with utter seriousness, 'we have shared a lot of moments together these past two days. But in the end, it's either you two, or Noriko. I choose Noriko.'

Will stretched out a hand, 'No Shuya! DON'T!'

The sounds of two shots, followed by two distinctive screams, were heard clearly through the speakers at the BR building. The communications experts gave their thumbs up.

'Heart rates of Boys #17 and Girls #19 are at zero bpm,' Heller announced, 'Audio response is negative.'

'That's it sir,' smiled Calvino, 'Boys #15: Shuya Nanahara is the winner, as you expected.'

Conrad stretched his arms out into the air and took a deep sigh.

'Commence corpse recovery operations. Bring Nanahara to me; I want no one else in this building when he arrives. This is a strictly private meeting between the two of us.'

* * *

Calvino took the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door of the classroom. He grabbed Shuya by the neck and shoved him onto the floor inside. One of his guards unlocked Shuya's handcuffs and saluted Conrad, who was eating some microwave pizza on his couch.

'We've searched him, sir,' the guard explained, 'he's clean.'

Conrad took a bite out of his pizza and spoke while chewing, 'Good work.' He mumbled.

The guard saluted Calvino and left the room. As Conrad instructed, the BR building was completely empty. Most of the soldiers had taken part in the recovery operation. Others stationed themselves around the perimeter of the building.

Calvino picked up Shuya by the collar and pointed his finger into his face, 'I'll be right outside this classroom,' he explained, 'if I even hear one mouse fart that I find dangerous, I'll come in with my guns a'blazing. Capisci?'

'Go fuck a rat,' Shuya answered.

Calvino grabbed Shuya's shirt and raised his fist. 'You little…'

'You are dismissed, Calvino…' munched Conrad.

Calvino took one last long look at Shuya and shoved him away. He saluted Conrad and closed the door behind him. .

Shuya stood there for a while as Conrad continued to stuff his mouth. After finishing most of his slices Conrad offered the plate to Shuya.

'You want the last one?' he asked, 'It's olives and anchovies.'

Shuya tried his hardest to refuse, but his stomach was grumbling. He snatched the slice and wolfed it down.

'I'm glad you and Matthew took part,' Conrad said, 'sometimes theses kids need a little impetus to start killing-'

'Where is Noriko?' Shuya interrupted.

'Wait a minute,' Conrad reached for his remote, 'clarify one thing for me.'

He pressed the button towards Shuya's collar. There was no response.

Conrad put the remote away. 'You knew how to break these collars didn't you? Those guys at the lab told me they were unbreakable! Did you learn how to do it from Shogo Kawada?'

Shuya glared at him.

'I've read your file, genius,' Conrad laughed, 'I also read about what you did to Mr. Kitano…'

'So where's Noriko!?' demanded Shuya.

Conrad couldn't hold in his laughter and burst.

'What's funny? Where is she!?'

'I actually wanted to tell you _after_ we got off this island but….she's… she's dead! Hah hah hah!'

Shuya's face went pale. He stared at Conrad, wide-eyed.

'Remember that day you were caught at the harbour? The FBI told me that when you tried to run they shot at you and....' Conrad chuckled when he spoke again, '…and they hit your precious Noriko in the back! You were in such a rush to save your own skin you didn't notice it at all!'

Shuya began to tremble, 'You knew she was dead and you didn't tell me? You made me play this _game _again for no reason?'

Conrad nodded, 'Uh huh! Doesn't that just sting!?'

'You made me kill innocent people for nothing…?'

'You were a tool,' Conrad guffawed.

Shuya attempted a lunge at Conrad's neck, but he had been expecting it. He jumped over his couch and took out a gun from his pocket. Shuya fell over clumsily with the couch.

'Hold on there, Bruce Lee,' he smiled, 'I can't let the guys at HQ know that these collars were defective. I'd save so much time on paperwork if I just killed you here, right now.'

Shuya sat frozen, 'You damn…!'

'Say "hi" to Noriko for me…'

A muffled gunshot startled both of them. It came from the hallway. Calvino groaned and fell to the floor. The door of the classroom burst open. Conrad turned to see who it was

Jean Rhys held Richard's gun in her hands. Will was holding Shuya's shotgun in his. He swatted a tattered shirt off the nose of his gun. They both aimed their guns at Conrad.

'I told you to go to the weapons store!' Shuya complained.

'We couldn't leave you all alone…' Jean explained, 'we were worried about you.'

'That's pretty clever Will,' Conrad exclaimed, 'using your shirt as a silence. Did Sam teach you? '

'Shut the hell up, Conrad,' said Will sternly, 'or I'll shoot a bullet through your skull.'

Conrad grinned. 'I honestly didn't think Shuya saved you, I really didn't! Now that you're here, I've got some bad news for you! Do you _realise_ what will happen to you guys if you kill me? You'll live a life on the run, just like Shuya over here. You'll never have a home to go back to. You will be chased by the top policemen in the world!

'The moment you guys shoot me, my men will hear the gunshots and rush over here to take you away,' he aimed his gun at Shuya, 'gunshots like this.'

Conrad fired once into the centre of Shuya's chest. Shuya jerked backwards. Conrad jeered.

Will and Jean watched wide-eyed. What could they do now?

Will couldn't stand Conrad anymore. He had shot his saviour. The alarm was going to be sounded anyway, now was the time to do it.

Will thought of all his classmates in 12A and shot Conrad with Shuya's shotgun. Conrad was flung into mid-air and whacked hard into the wall behind him.

He stared at Will with sadistic eyes, 'Now you've done it,' he choked, 'now you're gonna _die_…'

Conrad's body slid slowly down to the floor, leaving a trail of crimson on the plastered wall.

Will and Jean rushed to Shuya, who was desperately taking in his last breaths.

They both cried at his side, no words were spoken for a while. Some commotion could be heard from outside but they didn't care about that right now.

Will finally broke the silence, 'You never really told us why you saved us that day…'

Shuya turned to him and smiled, 'I guess…I saw myself...and Noriko…in you two…'

He grabbed Will's arm and looked at him straight in the eye.

'Don't…become…like us…'

Shuya's grip loosened, and his hand dropped onto the floor.

Will placed Shuya onto the floor gently, 'Shuya…' he whimpered.

Someone had blown a whistle outside, and now a number of footsteps could be heard, swiftly making their way into the building.

'What are we gonna do…' wept Will.

When Will turned Jean, she was aiming her gun at him. Before Will could react, she shot him.

Will tumbled onto the floor, writhing in agony. Jean grabbed his arm and looked at him face-to-face.

'This is the only way,' she told him.

She took her gun and made Will hold it in his hands.

'You heard what Shuya said, she explained, '"Don't become like us". If both of us are found in this classroom with Conrad dead, the same thing that happened to Shuya and Noriko will happen to us.'

Will looked at her in agony; he knew what she wanted him to do.

She locked the door of the classroom and placed the shotgun into Shuya's arms.

'They are going to find _you_ in this classroom _alive_. _You_ are going to be the sole survivor of this Battle Royale,' she held Will close, 'Shuya _forced_ us into deactivating our collars, so we could help him _assassinate_ Conrad. We entered this classroom and cornered him. Conrad shot Shuya first but Shuya managed to fire back.'

The BR men were running up the stairs now.

'That left just you and me in this classroom. I shot you so I could win. I dropped the gun on the floor because I thought I had won, but,' Will shook his head vigorously, 'you were still alive. You took the gun and put a bullet threw my head.'

'No…Jean…I can't…' cried Will.

Jean placed her hands on Will's face. 'You promised me that nothing would happen to me. You promised me that you'd always be there for me. You were right, you kept your promise.

'And I'm going to keep mine. Now it's my turn.'

The BR men were in the hallway now.

'You deserve it Will. _You're_ going to get off this island. Don't worry; nothing will ever happen to you. I'll always be with you'

She placed her hand over Will's gun hand and gently raised it to her forehead. The lock on the door turned. Will looked speechlessly into Jean's beautiful brown eyes.

'I promise.'


End file.
